CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune
By Manya Brachear Pashman, Tribune reporter
9:22 p.m. CST, February 5, 2014
The Chicago Archdiocese has updated its list of clergy who have substantiated allegations of abuse against them to include a former Roman Catholic priest who was sued last May over claims of child sexual abuse.
Joseph Wilk, the former pastor of St. Matthew Catholic Church in Schaumburg, was accused in a suit filed in May of abusing Donnie Ophus starting in 1995, when he was 10 years old. Abuse continued after Ophus turned 18, according to the suit.
Archdiocese officials on Wednesday confirmed the addition of Wilk’s name to an online list of dozens of priests who have substantiated claims of abuse against them.
The suit claims that Wilk provided alcohol to Ophus and on two occasions in 2002 gave him $200 or $300. In an interview with the Tribune, Ophus said he threatened to go to authorities in 2003 if the priest didn’t give him $3,000. The priest gave him the money but made him agree in writing that he would not report the abuse to law enforcement or church authorities, Ophus said.
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