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Rev. Mark Thomas Roberts


Summary of case: 
First known incident of abuse occurred in 1996. Removed from ministry in 2002. Accused in a 2002 civil suit of abuse of at least nine teenage boys. Criminally charged with the abuse of five boys. Convicted in 2003. Sentenced to three years probation. Removed from formal probation by court in August 2004. Ordered to treatment at RECON, a church-run center in MO, despite the fact that one of his victims lived within a 20 minute drive of the site. On Las Vegas diocese's list April 12, 2019.


Ordained:1983

 

 

Start Stop Assignment Town/Accusations State Position Notes
1983 1991     New Guinea

pastor

Roberts is not indexed in the 1983-1991 Directories.

He said in a 2004 deposition that he had been a pastor in New Guinea for nearly 22 years.

1991
Reno-Las Vegas bishop was Daniel Francis Walsh (1987-1995)
1992 St. Joseph, Husband of Mary Las Vegas NV 3/3

 

1992 1994 St. Francis De Sales Las Vegas NV 4/4, 3/3 Parish had a school with 299-294 students.

1995

The Ren-Las Vegas diocese split in 1995, so that Reno and Las Vegas became separate dioceses. Walsh continued as bishop up the Las Vegas diocese, until 2000, when he was replaced by Joseph Anthony Pepe
(2002-)

1997 Diocesan Youth Activities        
1996 1998 Promoter of Justice        
1998 2002 Diocesan Judge        
2001 2002 Presbyteral Council        

1994

2002 St. Peter the Apostle

Henderson

Accused in a 2002 law suit of having sexually abused six teen age boys, each of whom had gone to him for spiritual guidance, over the four previous years. (Associated Press State & Local Wire
March 13, 2002)

In a 2004 deposition, Roberts admitted that he had been investigated in 1996 by church authorities due to accusations that he inappropriately touched a young homeless man who had come to him for help. He was placed on administrative leave at the time, and sent to treatment. (Las Vegas Review-Journal (Nevada)
December 29, 2004)

NV 1/2, 1/1

Parish had a catechesis program with 643-958 students.

Roberts is not indexed or listed in the 1996 Directory, nor is the parish, St. Peter the Apostle.

The 2002 Directory is the last in which Roberts' name appears.

Roberts was was removed from active ministry in Jan. 2002, and later arrested and charged with fondling, hitting, and taking pornographic photos of the young males. (Associated Press State & Local Wire
April 25, 2002) Roberts pleaded guilty, and was sentenced to three years probation. (Las Vegas Review-Journal [Las Vegas NV]
Downloaded May 31, 2003) Roberts was taken off probation in Aug. 2004 and sent to a Missouri treatment facility for clergy sex offenders, RECON. The facility was near the home of one of Roberts' victims. (Las Vegas Review-Journal
August 27, 2004)



Source: Official Catholic Directory (New York: Kenedy & Sons, 1992-2002).

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.

 
 

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