Fr. William F. Dawson
As part of the Davenport diocese bankruptcy, a woman alleged sexual abuse as a child by Dawson and two other priests. She said the priests were her dad’s friends and that the it occurred in separate incidents when she was ages 4-7, beginning in 1969. The review board reportedly told her the allegations were credible and she received a settlement. The Diocese refused to list the names of these 3 and 15 other priests on their website, saying the allegations were not proven. The woman filed a motion in Bankruptcy Court 7/19/2012 to force addition of the 3 names to Diocese’s public list; in 8/2012 the Court ruled in her favor. Dawson died 12/13/2011.
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