Fr. Sebastian Vadakekottaram
Diocese: Diocese of Scranton PA
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Total Individuals: 126
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Diocese: Diocese of Scranton PA
Long involved with the Filipino American community. Allegations received in late 2002 that he sexually abused girls more than 40 years prior at Holy Cross Parish. Placed on leave in 2/2003. Violated restrictions placed on him by showing up at his parish and mission, presenting himself as a priest. Allowed to travel to the Philippines in 2004. Resided in a "monitored and restricted setting" after the Archdiocese permanently removed his privileges in 9/2005. Name included on the Archdiocese's 6/2003 list of credibly accused. Two women filed civil suit in 5/2009 after futile mediation. Died in 7/2011. Included in the 5/23/2023 IL Attorney General's Report. Referred to as a serial predator, with 13 "reported survivors" and at least five claims substantiated by the Archdiocesan Review Board.
On 7/5/2021 the Diocese announced that Vaillancourt had been placed on leave pending the investigation of an allegation that he had sexually abused a girl in the 1980s. Director in the late 1980s of Diocesan Youth Ministry. Pastor at the time of his suspension of St. Brendan the Navigator in Camden, ME. Vaillancourt denied wrongdoing. Reportedly in 9/2021 a second woman had come forward, alleging Vaillancourt raped and sexually assaulted her repeatedly in 1982, when she was 15. He was in charge of youth ministry at St. Andre's in Biddeford during the time in question. In 7/2022 the Diocese announced that its Review Board had determined that the allegations were unfounded, and that Vaillancourt would be returned to active ministry. Assigned in 1/2023 to an Auburn parish.
Named publicly as accused by the Franciscans Santa Barbara Province on its list in 11/2023. Subject of one or more pending lawsuits. Credibility of allegations not yet determined. Died 6/22/1997.
Named publicly as accused by the diocese on its list in 3/19. It notes multiple allegations of abuse received in 1992, of abuse in the late 1970s. Retired 1987. Died 3/9/92.
From Belgium. Died 7/25/2009. Diocese of Marquette announced 11/15/2013 that it had received a credible allegation of abuse of a minor by 'Fr. Ben' in 1989 while he filled in at St. Michael Parish in Marquette. The allegation was reported to the Jesuits and to the county prosecutor's office. Included on the Jesuits Midwest Province list 12/17/2018. Included in the MI Attorney General's 10/2022 report, which shows that the allegation was of sexual abuse of a boy, age 10 or 11, in the summer of 1987 and 1988.
Founding director of Santa Barbara Boys' Choir and principal of St. Anthony's Seminary High School. Admitted to his pedophilic behavior to his Provincial in 1992; sent to treatment. May have sexually abused 150 boys, ages 8-12. Criminally charged 1994 with abuse of students. Convicted. Sentenced 8/1994 to eight years in prison for abuse of one. Released in 2002. Named in several civil suits. Reportedly abused six boys 1970-1982. Four claims settled in 2006. Personnel file released in 5/2012; may have been laicized 7/23/1997. On sex offender registry in 1/2012. Included on the Santa Barbara Province Franciscans' list 5/31/2019, which notes a report in 1992 of abuse of minors 1977-1984. On the Oakland diocese's list in 2019. Accused along with Msgr. Vincent McCabe in a 6/2022 lawsuit of abuse of a fifth-grade boy in 1989. Per the plaintiff's attorney, Van Handel told his superiors in the 1970s that he was attracted to young boys. Van Handel moved in 2013 to the Portland, OR area. In 2019 he was a resident of a senior living facility and had advanced Parkinson's disease. He died 6/2/2020.
Named publicly as accused in the MI Attorney General's 12/15/2025 Diocese of Grand Rapids Report. Four women from St. Patrick's Parish in Portland MI reported to the Diocese in 1985 sexual misconduct by Van Lente. The incidents allegedly included sexual harassment and exposure of his genitals. In 2/1993 a woman told the Diocese that when she was a teenager in the late 1960s Van Lente twice made sexual advances toward her - the first when she was in 7th or 8th grade, the second toward the end of her high school years. Sent to St. Luke Institute for evaluation. Ordered by the bishop to "avoid unsupervised contact with adolescent females." Retired with restrictions in 9/2006.
Monsignor. In 1992 a woman reported inappropriate sexual conduct toward her by Van Liefde when she was a student at Holy Family in Glendale 1973-1974. The abuse was said to have occurred in a car, in the girl's home and at a beach. He denied the allegations. Placed on leave in 2002. Accused in a lawsuit in 2003. Per the 2004 Los Angeles Archdiocese's Report, there were two accusers, alleging abuse 1971-1975. Accused in 2005 of sexual misconduct with the daughter of St. Killian parishioners in Mission Viejo in the early 1970s, when he was a seminarian. Died 5/25/2023. Per an obituary, Van Liefde was longtime chaplain for the Los Angeles Firemen's Relief Association.
Named publicly as accused in the MI Attorney General's 12/15/2025 Diocese of Grand Rapids Report. Placed on inactive status in 5/1968. Died in 1983. In 2008 a man told the Diocese that in 1956, when he was in kindergarten, Vanbergen fondled him. He said he told another priest a few years later, who told him to drop it. He said he also told the Diocese. In 2013 another man reported sexual abuse by Vanbergen when he was a 7th- or 8th-grade altar boy in 1955 or 1956 at St. Stephens. He said he told his grandmother, who took him to a priest at St. Mary's; he was told "stop telling lies" or he would "go to hell."
"Jack." Arrested in 1997 for public lewdness at a rest area; went on leave. Accused in a lawsuit filed by a man in his 40s on 1/19/2021 of sexually abusing him as a child, while preparing for First Communion at St. Jude's in Wynantskill. Varno allegedly got the boy drunk on wine then fondled and sodomized him. The Diocese kept Varno in public ministry until his parishioners of Our Lady of Grace in Ballston Lake discovered the lawsuit and demanded his removal in 7/2021. Varno stepped down voluntarily, including from assignments at Immaculate Conception in Glenville and St. Joseph's in Scotia. He denied the allegations.
Diocese: Archdiocese of Hartford CT
Diocese: Archdiocese of New York NY
Accused publicly in 9/2022 of sexually abusing a boy, age 9, at St. Christopher's in Tonawanda in 1980. The Diocese received a report of abuse in 2004, likely from the boy's parents, but determined that there was "no basis" to the allegation. Vatter retired in 5/2022. In 2/2023 he was placed on leave due to an allegation that he sexually abused a girl. Deemed substantiated by the Diocese in 9/2023. No criminal charges due to the statute of limitations.
Diocese: Diocese of Harrisburg PA
Died: 5/30/2024
Diocese: Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau MO
Died: 4/13/2015
Diocese: Archdiocese of St. Paul & Minneapolis, MN
Diocese: Diocese of Brooklyn NY
Ordained for the Diocese of Tulancingo, Mexico. Incardinated in 1990 into the Diocese of Fresno. Pastor 1996-2004 of St. Mary's in Cutler. Retired in 2004 to Mexico. The 2014 Catholic Directory lists Vega as at the Basilica of Santa Maria de Guadalupe, Mexico City. Named publicly as credibly accused by the Fresno diocese on its list in 8/2021. Faculties noted to be suspended.
Also known as Salvatore Montana. From the Diocese of Quibdo, Colombia. Named publicly as accused by the Archdiocese of Hartford on its list in 2024. Ministry in the Archdiocese ended 6/1/2005. Allegation received in 2019. Faculties to minister in his home diocese and beyond revoked 4/2/2021.
Tertiary Capuchin. Colombian. Arrived in the U.S. in 2001. Suspended from ministry in the Diocese of Alexandria in 2/2016 pending the investigation of allegations of sexual misconduct with a female minor during an 8-year period, while assigned in the Baltimore archdiocese. Report in 2009 from a man who said he walked in on Velez and a teenage girl naked in bed. Velez was dog-sitting at the man's house while he was away. The man said Velez threatened harm to his family in Colombia if he told. Velez and the girl denied the allegations. Faculties removed in Baltimore in 3/2010. The girl became pregnant with Velez' child. He was transferred to the Diocese of Alexandria. In 2016 the girl told her parish priest in Baltimore that Velez was her child's father, and the investigation was reopened. Velez admitted the allegations. Criminally charged. Pleaded guilty in 2020 to the sex abuse of a minor, sentenced to 25 years with all but 9 years suspended. On the Alexandria diocese's list 2/6/2019 (name spelled "Valez-Lopez.") Case sent to the Vatican. On Baltimore's list updated 7/23/2019. Included in the 4/5/2023 MD Attorney General's Report. Sentenced by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in 2/2025 to one year for passport fraud for lying to officials regarding his criminal past. Civilly denaturalized as a U.S. citizen. (Had been naturalized in 2013.) Ordered removed from the U.S. after he serves his prison sentence.
Diocese: Archdiocese of New York NY
Named publicly as accused by the Salesians' St. Philip Province on its list as of 5/2021. Professed vows in 1936. Worked in NJ, NY, WV, MA, FL. Died in 2004. (No information as to when or where the abuse took place; placing Versaggi for now in the NY Archdiocese, where the Province is based.)
Placed on leave in 1991. Died in 1/2004. Accused in a 2005 lawsuit of fondling and raping a 12-year-old boy at St. Theresa's Elementary School in Carson City in about 1969. Vieages' accuser received a settlement. Included on the Reno diocese's list 4/5/2019. On the Las Vegas diocese's list 4/12/2019.
Diocese: Archdiocese of Hartford CT
From the Diocese of Tagblaran, Philippines. Visiting priest in the Archdiocese of Hartford 1968-1971. Left the priesthood in 1977. Died in 2008. In 2/2023 the Archdiocese announced a settlement in the low six figures with a woman who filed a claim in 2019 alleging that she was sexually abused as a child by Villacastin. The woman said the abuse occurred multiple times when she ages 8-9 during 1969-1970, in the St. Isaac Jogues Church sacristy and elsewhere. Included on the Archdiocese's list of accused.
Named publicly as credibly accused by the Jesuits Northeast Province on its list 1/15/2019, which notes reports in 1980 and in the 2000s of the sexual abuse of minors 1960-1980. Voelkle worked at McQuaid Jesuit High School in Rochester 1962-1965 and 1968-1969, and at Regis High School in NYC 1969-1980. (The 1972 Regis High School yearbook is dedicated to Voelkle, nicknamed "Voelks.") Voelkle left the Jesuits in 1985 and died in 2016. Accused in a lawsuit filed in 7/2020 under the NY Child Victims act of sexually abusing a 17-year-old boy in 1976. The boy was a Regis High School student. An 8/2020 lawsuit accuses Voelkle of sexually abusing a 14-year-old McQuaid student during an overnight trip to Voelkle's parents' home; it settled in 2026 in the mid six figures. Accused in a 8/2021 lawsuit of sexually abusing a boy, also a Regis High School student, age 16, in 9/1980. Another former Regis High School student filed suit in 11/2023, alleging abuse by Voelkle when he was age 19 in 1979 or 1980.
Accused during an AG investigation in 3/2002 of repeatedly sexually abusing a 12-year-old boy in 1982 at Camp Don Bosco in NH. Voglio was a Salesian brother and camp counselor at the time of the alleged abuse. Later in 1982 Voglio wrote to the alleged victim from OH, saying that he was going on to become a priest. He was ordained for the Salesians in 1987 and worked in a Salesian High School and a parish in the NY archdiocese. His name was included on the NY archdiocese's list 4/26/2019, noting that Voglio was removed from ministry and laicized. Per the Salesians list in 3/2020, he withdrew from the order in 1994. Reportedly in 3/2023, Voglio was running a charity that gave scholarships to Catholic schools for underprivileged children, and that he "mingles with children and teenagers who attend charity events." The charity was founded in 2000 by accused priest John Harrington.
Diocese: Diocese of Great Falls-Billings MT
Died in 1998. One of ten brothers and two laymen accused by more than 30 men in a 5/2013 civil case of abuse at three Chicago schools run by the Edmund Rice Christian Brothers North American Province. Order agreed to massive $16.5M settlement in 5/2013 with 400 plaintiffs claiming abuse by multiple order priests and brothers. Included in the 5/23/2023 IL Attorney General's Report.