Rev. Daniel P. Herek-Assignment

Rev. Daniel P. Herek

Summary of Case: Pled no contest in 1998 to allegations of the sexual abuse of a youth. Served 2 1/2 years in jail. Named by eight in subsequent civil suits. A 2002 jury award of $800K to one. Other suits then settled. Convicted of exposing himself in a mall parking lot in September 2005. Sentenced to 120 days in jail. Sent to jail in July 2008. The judge added four months for a probation violation when Herek was caught masturbating in public. Herek's name was inculded on the archdiocese's list in Novmeber 2018. It notes multiple reports to the diocese and law enforcement, of child pornography and sex abuse in the 1970s through the 1990s. He was laicized in 2006.

Ordained: 1971
Laicized: 2006

Start	Stop	Assignment	Town/Accusations	State	Position	Notes
1960s Omaha Bishop was Gerald Thomas Bergen (1948-1969)		St. John Seminary	• Church documents obtained in 2001 show reportsto the Archdiocese from St. John's stating Herek sought contacts with younger boys and was "a definite risk." (Omaha World Herald [Nebraska] July 15, 2001)	NE	seminarian
1971 Bishop was Daniel Eugene Sheehan (1969-1993)	1973	Assumption Blessed Virgin Mary	Omaha • After Herek's 1998 arrest an Omaha police investigator stated, "We've talked to victims from 1972 on." (Omaha World Herald [Nebraska] August 30, 1998)	NE	2/2 Pastor was Rev. Robert J. Gass	Parish had a school with 264-236 students.
1973	1975	Christ the King	Omaha	NE	2/3 Pastor was Rev. Robert J. Gass. Third priest 1973-1974 was William Hettinger, replaced in 1974-1975 by Robert P. Duffy.	Parish had a school with 474 to 450 students.
1975	1979	St. Joan of Arc	Omaha • Herek's former sister in law stopped by his mobile home in a trailer park in 1977 or 1978 and found there were "a half a dozen or so boys about 9-12 years old running around the trailer in their underwear." She reported this to Archbishop Sheehan. He did not respond. (Omaha World Herald [Nebraska] August 30, 1998)	NE	2/2 Pastor was Rev. Andre H. Meister.	Parish had a school with 343-312 students.
1979	1980	Mary Our Queen	Omaha • Church documents obtained in 2001 indicate Chancellor in 1980, Rev. James Kane, "discouraged someone from pursuing criminal charges against" Herek. (Omaha World Herald [Nebraska] July 15, 2001)	NE	2/2 Pastor was Rev. Francis P. Kenny.	Parish had a school with 487 students.
1980	1981	St. Peter's	Omaha • Parishioners sent letters to the Archdiocese about improper behavior toward boys by Herek, including "getting them drink, feeling them up and taking their pictures." (Omaha World Herald [Nebraska] August 30, 1998)	NE	2/3 Pastor was Rev. Richard S. Ciurej. Third priest was Savious Mallia.	Parish had a school with 133 students.
1981	1982	St Bernard	Omaha	NE	4/4 Herek listed last after Msgr. Edward P. McCaslin, Revs. Steven J. Stillmunks, and David G. Reeson.	Parish had a school with 405 students.
1982	1985	St. Michael's	Coleridge	NE	1/1
1982	1985	St. Mary's	Belden	NE		St. Mary's was a mission of St. Michael's.
1985	1989	Holy Cross	Beemer	NE	1/1
1989	1992	St. Ann's	Omaha	NE	1/2 In residence was Rev. Nguyen Loi.	Parish had a C.C.D. program with 52 students.
1992 Sheehan was replaced as Bishop by Elden Francis Curtiss (1993- )	1997	St. Richard's .	Omaha • Placed on leave after child pornography found in the rectory. (Omaha World Herald [Nebraska] July 26, 1997) Sent to St. Luke Institute in Silver Springs MD for treatment. There May 1997-Feb. 1988.	NE	1/1, 1/2 Working under Herek 1994-1997 was Rev. Theodore L. Richling.	Parish had a school with 221-185 students.
1997	2002	Absent on Leave	• Arrested Feb. 1998 for sexual assault on a child. Abuse said to have taken place June 1992-May1997. Victim was a St. Richard's parishioner, under the age of 14. (Omaha World Herald [Nebraska] Convicted and sentenced in 1999 to 20 months to 5 years in prison. (Omaha World Herald [Nebraska] January 19, 1999) He was released after 2 and 1/2 years. In 2005 he was arrested for masturbating in a mall parking lot and sentenced to 120 days in jail. He was free while appealing his case, so he wasn't jailed until July 2008. In Sept. 2008 Herek was sentenced to another four months in jail because the parking lot incident was a violation of his probation. (WORLD-HERALD September 5, 2008)			Herek no longer appears in the Directories after 2002. Laicized in 2006. (Catholic Voice, December 3, 2018)

Source: Official Catholic Directory (New York: Kenedy & Sons, 1972-2002).

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 & 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.