Fr. William C. Poepperling
Subject of allegations in the early 1970s of hitting and spanking children. A woman filed suit in 4/2005 alleging sexual abuse as a child by Poepperling between 1956-1959. A second woman filed suit in 8/2005 alleging abuse for 4 years, beginning when she was 4 in the 1950s. She said the abuse included forced sexual intercourse and severe beatings. Poepperling died in 1983 at age 78. Most counts in each case were dismissed by a trial court in 2008 or 2009; the dismissals were upheld by a court of appeals in 2/2010. Poepperlings name was included on the Archdiocese’s 7/26/2019 list, which notes substantiated allegations, received after Poepperling’s death.
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