Fr. Joseph P. Friel

Accused in 1970 of repeatedly molesting a teenage boy at a West Seneca church. When the boy and his parents reported the abuse to their pastor, he accused them of lying and threatened to excommunicate them. A civil lawsuit  filed in 1994 was dropped due to the statute of limitations. Friel died in 1995. Included on the Diocese’s 3/20/2018 list, which includes deceased priests only if they have more than one allegation against them. By 2/2019 at least eight alleged victims had come forward. Three people, including the man whose suit was dropped in 1994, filed suit under the Child Victims Act in 8/1209, claiming Friel abused them in the 1960s. A woman filed suit in 1/2020, claiming Friel sexually abused her as a child at St. Patrick’s, where he was assigned in the late 1970s-early 1980s. She said he told her that if she told, “the devil would get her.” A new suit filed 8/1/2020 by a man, age 52, claims abuse as a teenager by Friel, Rev. Louis Hendricks and a Franciscan,” Bro. Dale”.