Fr. Charles Antekeier

Retired in 2000. Suspended from ministry in 2003. Accused of soliciting sex 30-40 times from a married adult male in 1994 and 1995, including during confession. The solicitation started after the man confided that he had been sexually abused as a boy. Permanently restricted from ministry in 2006. Permanently removed from ministry in 8/2015 and ordered to lead a ‘life of prayer and penance.’ In 2005 Antekeier was accused of the sexual abuse, including rape, of a St. James altar boy, ages 8-15, beginning in 1969. The boy is said to have told the school principal, who said he was lying. Further, some of the abuse occurred at times during confession. The alleged victim’s father said that, as a result of the abuse, his son was an alcoholic by age 14, became violent and spent time in prison. When he became sober in his 40s, he told his father of the abuse. The father said he told the D.A. and the church, but nothing happened. In 2011 a man reported to the Diocese that Antekeier had taken advantage of his vulnerability in the early 2000s by initiating a sexual relationship, and that he had done this with others. He warned the Diocese that Antekeier was dangerous. In 2014 the Diocese received a report that Antekeier sexually abused a 4th or 5th-grade boy in 1984-1985 while pastor of St. James in Grand Rapids. This accuser said that three men who had been in spiritual counseling with Antekeier died by suicide. No prosecution due to the statute of limitations. Another man alleged physical abuse by Antekeier and being asked about masturbation during confession. In 2015 a man told the Diocese that Antekeier was sexually abused him as a seventh- or eight-grader at St. Francis Xavier School in 1989-1990. A man in 2020 told an A.G. investigator that Antekeier sexually abused him as a young boy and continuing into his young adulthood. In 1990 he lived in the St. Francis Xavier rectory with the priest. Another man alleged in 2021 sexual abuse 1966-1970 by Antekeier and another priest when he was a St. Mary’s and St. James altar boy, ages 10-14. He said the priests plied him with alcohol. Included in the MI Attorney General’s 12/15/2025 Diocese of Grand Rapids report.