DUBUQUE (IA)
KGAN - CBS 2 [Cedar Rapids IA]
July 16, 2024
By Valeree Dunn
The first person to come forward with sexual abuse allegations against a former Dubuque priest is speaking out after Leo Riley’s charges were dismissed in court on Monday.
The dismissal of charges in Dubuque County due to an archaic Iowa law does not change what is the absolute truth: Leo Patrick Riley is a serial pedophile,” Jeff Buchheit said in a statement on Tuesday.
Evil escaped justice today, but it is only a matter of time before he is held accountable for other lives he destroyed in Iowa and Florida. I extend my sincere gratitude to the Dubuque Police Department investigators and County Attorney’s office. Their relentless and just pursuit of the truth has honored all of us who previously had no voice, especially the many altar boys from Resurrection who have passed on but still stand with us.
My resolve to bring Riley to justice, in whatever form the law affords, will not waver.
Jeff Buchheit spoke to Iowa’s News Now about the allegations in March 2015, just a few months after he reported his claims to the Archdiocese of Dubuque in December 2014.
The church later cleared Riley in July 2015, telling parishioners in a letter at the time “the best information available does not support a reasonable belief that the allegation is true.”
New abuse allegations against Riley surfaced last year, sparking a new investigation by the church and then law enforcement. Riley was arrested and charged with five counts of 2nd degree sexual abuse in April 2024, accused of abusing school-aged altar boys during his time at Resurrection Church in the 1980s.
Court filings earlier this year said while enough time had gone by to clear the statute of limitations, the statute should’ve essentially been put on hold under a legal tenant called “tolling” because Riley moved to Florida in 2002. However, prosecutors didn’t say anything about that on Monday and reversed course, agreeing with Riley’s defense that the statute of limitations had passed.