Fr. John Donald Gallagher

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Ordained: 1940
Status: Sued

Diocese: Archdiocese of Louisville KY

A woman filed suit in 2/02 alleging abuse in 1950 by Rev. “Bernard” Gallagher at Holy Trinity Church. Her attorney said this was actually John Donald Gallagher. She claimed she was a 4th-grader and confessed to the priest that she had touched herself, and that he responded by molesting her. The woman said she developed obsessive-compulsive disorders the next year, washing her hands as often as 20 times a day. Gallagher died in 1968. Included on the archdiocese’s list of accused in 2019.


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