Fr. John P. Bernard
Parish priest, diocesan vocations director. Two claims of child sexual abuse against Bernard settled for $50K in 1993. Accused in a RICO lawsuit filed in 1994 of abusing a boy for 5 years, beginning 1972. The suit settled in 2003. Bernard left parish ministry in 1977 for military chaplaincy. He retired in 1992 and was permanently removed from ministry. On diocese’s list 2/13/2019. Sued 12/2019, accused, along with Revs. Jay Shannon and John Kelly, of abuse of a boy, age 12, in 1974.
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