OHIO
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Summary of Case: Norman L. Heil was ordained for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati in 1963. He had a very short career, assisting at St. Michael’s in Sharonville and then St. John the Evangelist in Deer Park. By 1966 he had transferred to a Bismarck, North Dakota parish, while still a Cincinnati priest. He left the priesthood by 1967. At some point he moved to California. He died in 1988 at age 51.
In 2004 a woman sued the archdiocese, claiming Heil impregnated her in 1965 when she was 16 years-old. She said he would drive her home from youth group gatherings at St. John’s in Deer Park, which is when he made sexual overtures. Further, he would hear her confessions and absolve her from her “sin” of pre-marital sex. When she became pregnant, Heil’s accuser claimed the church sent her away and Heil and a nun pressured her into giving up the baby and to keeping its parentage secret. They were said to have told her that if she did not give up the baby, she would be cast out of the church and the baby would not be baptized.
The lawsuit was unsuccessful due to the statute of limitations.
Born: April 11, 1937
Ordained: 1963
Died: July 31, 1988
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