Assignment Record – Rev. Kevin F. Hederman

Summary of Case: Hederman was ordained for the St. Louis archdiocese in 1975, and went on to serve as an assistant priest at a number of parishes. He was pastor of North American Martyrs parish and chaplain of Christian Brothers College High School in the 1990s when he was accused of having sexually abused a male high school student several years earlier. Hederman was subsequently sent out of the country to Belize. In 2009 another man accused Hederman in a lawsuit of sexually abusing him when he was a high school student in St. Louis in the early 1990s. Still in Belize, Hederman was removed from active ministry. He denied the allegations. Hederman's name was included in July 2019 on the archdiiocese's list of those against whom there were substantiated allegations. 

Ordained: 1975

   

Start Stop Parish/Assignment Town/Accusations State/Country Position Notes

1975

St. Louis archbishop was John Joseph Carberry (1968-1979). Carberry was succeeded by John Lawrence May (1980-1992).

1980 Most Holy Rosary St. Louis MO 2/2 Most Holy Rosary had a school with 299-249 students.
1980 1981 Most Blessed Sacrament St. Louis MO 2/2 Most Blessed Sacrament had a school with 318 students.
1981 1984 Most Holy Trinity St. Louis MO 2/2 Most Holy Trinity had a school with 254 students.
1984 1988 Corpus Christi Jennings MO 2/3, 1/2 Corpus Christi had a school with 212-228 students.
1988 1992 St. Engelbert's

 St. Louis MO 2/4, 2/3 In residence 1989-1992. Of note, also in residence 1988-1990 was Auxiliary Bishop J. Terry Steib.) St. Engelbert's had a school with 145 students.

1992

Justin Francis Rigali replaced May as archbishop (1994-2003).

1997 North American Martyrs

Florissant

• Hederman was accused in a lawsuit in the 1990s of the sexual abuse of a teenage boy in the early '90s. The priest is said to have begun manipulating the boy during a required 1:1 confession at a high school retreat at North American Martyrs. The boy reportedly may have been drugged prior to being sexually assaulted by Hederman.

• Hederman was accused in a 2009 lawsuit of having sexually abused a Christian Brothers College High School student in the early 1990s. The abuse is said to have occurred on two occasions at the North American Martyrs rectory where the boy was visiting Hederman for spiritual counseling. Hederman denied the accusations.

MO

1/1, 1/2

Hederman would occasionally say mass at Christian Brothers College High School.

North American Martyrs had a school with 150-240 students, and a religious education program with 275 students.
1994 1996 Christian Brothers College High School Clayton MO chaplain CBC had 936-927 students, all male.
1997 1999         Hederman is not indexed in the 1998 or 1999 Directories, nor is he listed at his previous assignments.

1999

Raymond Leo Burke succeeded Rigali as St. Louis archbishop (20003-2008), followed by Robert James Carlson (2009-).

Belize City-Belmopan bishop was Osmond Peter Martin (1983-2006), followed by Dorick McGowan Wright (2006-).

2009 On Duty Outside the Archdioces/Our Lady of Guadalupe Co-Cathedral Belmopan Belize pastor Hederman founded a school lunch program in Belize and delivered food to schools.
2009 2013 On Leave of Absence        

 

Sources: Official Catholic Directory (New York: P.J. Kenedy and Sons, 1976-2011)

• Civil Suit Accuses Former St. Louis Area Priest, By Kevin Killeen, KMOX, May 26, 2009
• St. Louis Priest Who Lives in Belize Accused of Abuse, By Tim Townsend, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 27, 2009
• Catholic Priest Accused of Sexual Assault, News 7 Belize, May 29, 2009
• Statements regarding Fr. Hederman, snapnetwork.org, posted by David Clohessy, April 18, 2013
• Archdiocese of St. Louis List, July 26, 2019

 



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 Hederman'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 May 27, 2021.