Rev. Donald J. Dickerson, s.j.-Assignment Record

Assignment Record – Rev. Donald J. Dickerson, s.j.

Summary of Case: Dickerson was a Jesuit of the New Orleans Province who, in addition to parish work, worked in high schools in New Orleans and Dallas. He appears to have left the priesthood in the late 1980s. He has two known accusations against him of child sexual abuse; in 2007 the Jesuits settled with a man who claimed Dickerson abused him when the man was an eighth-grader in 1974, and in 2011 they settled with a man who accused Dickerson of sexually abusing him repeatedly when he was 11-years-old, in 1982. Dickerson's whereabouts in September 2013 are unknown.

Ordained: 1980

Start	Stop	Parish/Assignment	Town/Accusations	State	Position	Notes
1970s New Orleans archbishop was Philip Matthew Hannan (1965-1988).		Jesuit High School	New Orleans • The Jesuits settled in 2009 with a man who accused Dickerson of sexually assaulting him in 1974, when the accuser was an eighth-grade boy .	LA
1980 Dallas bishop was Thomas Ambrose Tschoepe (1969-1990).	1981	Jesuit College Prep.	Dallas	TX		Jesuit Prep. had 710 students, all male. Dickerson's middle initial is listed as "B."
1981 Alexandra-Shreveport bishop was Lawrence Preston Joseph Graves (1973-1982), followed by William Benedict Friend (1982-1986).	1984	St. John Berchman's Co-Cathedral	Shreveport • Dickerson was accused in a 2010 lawsuit of having sexually abused an 11-year-old boy repeatedly in 1982. Dickerson's accuser said the abuse occurred in his family's home, which the priest often visited. The family was in the process of converting to Catholicism.	LA	4/4, 3/6, 3/4	The cathedral had a school with 527-502 students.
1984	1985					Dickerson is not indexed in the 1985 Directory.
1985	1988	Loyola University	New Orleans	LA		Dickerson is not indexed beyond the 1988 Directory. His whereabouts in Sept. 2013 are unknown. He was known in 2010 to have, at some point, lived in Lincoln, NE.

Sources: Official Catholic Directory (New York: P.J. Kenedy and Sons, 1981-1988)

• Shreveport Man Accusing Priest of Sexual Abuse in $12 Million Lawsuit, KSLA, November 10, 2010
• Lawsuit Alleges Sexual Abuse by Shreveport Priest, KTBS, November 11, 2010
• Sexual Abuse Suit Filed against Former Shreveport Priest, Shreveport Times, November 11, 2010
• Sexual Abuse Suit Filed against Former Shreveport Priest, By Loresha Wilson, Shreveport Times, November 12, 2010

Priests in a Parish: We use the following convention to show a priest's place among the clergy of a parish: 1/2 means that he is the first priest listed in the Official Catholic Directory (usually the pastor) and that there is a total of two priests at the parish. The shorthand 3/4 means that the priest is listed third on a four-priest roster. See our sample page from the Directory.

Note: The Official Catholic Directory aims to report the whereabouts of Catholic priests in the United States on January 1 of the Directory's publication year. Our working assumption is that a priest listed in the Directory for a given year was at the same assignment for part of the previous year as well. However, Kenedy and Sons will sometimes accept updates well into the year of publication. Diocesan clergy records are rarely available to correct this information. The Directory is also sometimes misleading or wrong. We have tried to create an accurate assignment record, given the source materials and their limitations. Assignment records are a work in progress and we are always improving the records that we post. Please email us with new information and corrections.

This assignment record collates Dickerson's career history as it is represented in the Official Catholic Directory with allegations as reported in the media. We make no representation regarding the truth of the allegation we report, and we remind our readers that the U.S. legal system presumes that a person accused of or charged with a crime is innocent until proven guilty. Similarly, individuals who may be defendants in civil actions are presumed not to be liable for such claims unless a plaintiff proves otherwise. Admissions of guilt or liability are not typically a part of civil or private settlements. For more information, see our posting policy.

This assignment record was last updated on Sept. 5, 2013