LEXINGTON (KY)
Diocese of Lexington
August 14, 2020
Diocese Releases Names of Priests Accused of Sexual Abuse of Minors
The Catholic Diocese of Lexington has released a list of priests accused of sexual abuse of minors. The list, released Aug. 14., a day after the diocese received it, was compiled by attorneys who had unlimited access to the diocese’s priest personnel files and the files of any reports of abuse made to the diocese. The review team also conducted interviews, talked with the diocesan Victims’ Assistance Coordinator and met with the Diocesan Review Board.
“I, along with every priest in the Diocese of Lexington, am very sorry for what this report describes and apologize to every person who has ever been abused or injured in any way by one who was ordained to represent Christ,” wrote Lexington Bishop John Stowe, OFM Conv., in a letter accompanying the report, which he commissioned in December 2018.
The list, compiled by Lexington attorneys Allison Connelly and Andrew Sparks, is divided into categories of those with substantiated allegations against them (reasonable certainty that the allegation is true) and credible allegations (more likely true than not). The list also names those who served in the territory of the diocese but were listed by another diocese or religious congregation and one allegation that was found to be unsubstantiated.
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