Fr. John D. Lewandowski

First named publicly as credibly accused by the Diocese on its list 3/20/2018. Noted to have died in 1982. Sent in early 1966 to a Bemus Point diocesan retreat house after pastor expressed concern to the bishop about Lewandowski’s behavior with a teenage boy. The retreat house was said to have been “a penal house for wayward priests.” Lewandowski was a suspect in the murder of another priest there; the investigation was shut down after Lewandowski became a suspect. He was returned to ministry. Moved in 1969 to a Tupper Lake parish in the Ogdensburg diocese. Reportedly was a priest until about 1970. Accused in a 10/2019 lawsuit of sexually abusing boy, ages 13-14, at Ss. Peter and Paul in Jamestown, where Lewandowski was assigned in the early 1960s. A suit filed in 7/2020 claims abuse 1962-1963 of another child, ages 13-14. A 12/2020 lawsuit claims abuse of a boy, age 14, in 1960. Accused by at least seven men under the NY Child Victims Act. His accusers said Lewandowski would pull down their pants and molest them while he wrestled with them. One said Lewandowski once told him while they were wrestling, “I could snap your neck and kill you in an instant.” Another said the priest told him and his friends, ” I could kill you or cripple you for the rest of your life.”