JOLIET (IL)
Patch [New York City NY]
January 15, 2026
By David Giuliani
Villa Park IL – A man is suing the Diocese of Joliet, saying one of its pastors sexually abused him in the early 1990s.
The Rev. John Barrett served in Mary Queen of Heaven in Elmhurst, St. Alexander in Villa Park, Notre Dame in Clarendon Hills and Saints Peter and Paul in Naperville during his career. He died in 2014.
Filing the lawsuit on Monday, the plaintiff, who is now about 40, is seeking damages. He said he suffered much pain as a result of the alleged abuse in 1990 and 1991 at St. Alexander in Villa Park, where the plaintiff was a student in the parochial school.
According to the lawsuit, Barrett started sexually abusing children as early as 1968 at Clarendon Hills’ Notre Dame.
The lawsuit said the diocese’s practice was to discuss allegations of sexual abuse internally before transfers were made, but the leaders would never warn parishioners about potentially predatory priests.
In 1991, an anonymous survivor informed the diocese that Barrett sexually abused him in 1968, but the diocese took no action to remove Barrett.
The diocese canceled a meeting with the survivor and did not reschedule, the plaintiff said.
The same survivor reported the abuse again in 2001, the lawsuit said.
In June 2002, the Chicago Tribune reported that Barrett, who was transferred to Elmhurst in 1996, was reinstated. The previous month, he was placed on leave while the diocese investigated the allegation. The diocese said it could not substantiate it, according to the Tribune.
In the story, a friend of the survivor said the diocese never met with the survivor before arriving at its conclusion.
The lawsuit alleged that Barrett “manipulated situations to isolate Plaintiff from the rest of his class in order to sexually abuse Plaintiff.”
The abuse was said to have occurred both in St. Alexander’s church and parish.
Patch left a message for comment Thursday with the Diocese of Joliet.
The plaintiff is represented by Michael Grieco of Chicago-based Gould, Grieco & Hensley.