Assignment Record – Rev. Edmund J. Robinson, s.j.

Summary of Case: Edmund J. Robinson was ordained a priest of the Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus in 1955. He spent the bulk of his career working at Indian missions across the province in Montana, Washington state and Idaho. Robinson was accused in 2011 of raping a five-year-old Native American girl in 1963 in Arlee, Montana. In 2012 his name was included in a lawsuit as a perpetrator of past child sexual abuse in Hays, Montana. Robinson was known in 2012 to have been residing since 1993 in a Jesuit community in Spokane. He died May 22, 2014. By 2017, nine people - men and women - had come forward with allegations of sexual abuse by Robinson as children on Indian reservations in the 1950s and 1960s.

Born: 1924
Ordained: 1955
Died: May 22, 2014


   

Start Stop Parish/Assignment Town/Accusations State Position Notes

1955

San Francisco archbishop was John Joseph Mitty (1935-1961).

   Alma College Los Gatos CA  

1955

Great Falls bishop was William Joseph Condon (1939-1967).

1958 St. Paul's Indian Mission

Hays

• Robinson was accused in a lawsuit against the diocese in 2017 of having raped a girl at the Mission in 1955.

 MT

2/2

This is the first of three stints for Robinson at St. Paul's mission; the others were 1959-62 and 1966-68. His roles were as basketball coach, algebra teacher, superintendent and ethics teacher.

This was a Gross Ventres and Assinboine Indian mission. St. Paul's had a day grade school with 48-59 boys and 46 girls, and a religious vacation school with 50 students.
1956 1958 St. Thomas Lodge Pole MT   This was a mission of St. Paul's Indian Mission in Hays. St. Thomas' had a religious vacations school with 20-45 students.
1956 1958 St. Joseph's Zortman MT   This was a mission of St. Paul's Indian Mission in Hays. St. Joseph's had a religious vacations school with 28-22 students.
1957 1958   Beaver Creek MT Beaver Creek was a station of St. Paul's Indian Mission in Hays.

1958

Seattle archbishop was Thomas Arthur Connolly (1950-1975).

1959 Manresa Hall Port Townsend WA Tertianship  

1959

Great Falls diocese.

1962 St. Paul's Indian Mission

Hays

• A man alleged in the 2017 lawsuit against the diocese that Robinson raped him as a child in 1959 at the mission.

• A woman claimed in the same lawsuit that Robinson abused her verbally, physically and sexually in 1960 in Hays. In the suit, 21 people alleged abuse as children at St. Paul. Of them 8 men and women claimed abuse by Robinson.

 MT

1/2

 

St. Paul's had a grade school with 58-48 boys and 48-62 girls.

1959 1962 St. Thomas' Lodge Pole MT   This was a mission of St. Paul's Indian Mission in Hays. St. Thomas' had a religious vacation with 58-48 boys and 48-62 girls.
1959 1962 St. Joseph's Zortman MT   This was a mission of St. Paul's Indian Mission in Hays. St. Joseph's had a religious vacation school with 15-20 students.
1959 1960   Beaver Creek, Landusky, Cow Creek MT   These were stations of St. Paul's Indian Mission in Hays.

1962

Helena bishop was Raymond Gerhardt Hunthausen (1962-1975).

1964 St. Ignatius'

St. Ignatius

 

 MT 2/4, 2/3 Pastor  
1962 1964 Sacred Heart

Arlee

• Robinson was accused in 2011 of raping a 5-year-old girl in 1963, the morning after a Fourth of July pow-wow in Arlee.

MT   This was a mission of St. Ignatius' in St. Ignatius.
1962 1964 St. John Berchman's Jocko MT   This was a mission of St. Ignatius' in St. Ignatius.
1962 1964 St. Leonard's

 Dixon MT   This was a mission of St. Ignatius' in St. Ignatius.

1964

Spokane bishop was Bernard Joseph Topel (1955-1978).

1966 St. Mary's Indian Mission Omak WA 1/2  
1964 1966 St. Joseph's East Omak WA   This was a mission of St. Mary's Indian Mission in Omak.

1966

Eldon Bernard Schuster replaced Condon as Great Falls bishop (1967-1977).

1968 St. Paul's Indian Mission

Hays

• Robinson was accused in a 2012 lawsuit of child sexual abuse at St. Paul's Indian Mission. (The timeframe is not clear in news reports.)

MT 2/2 St. Paul's had a day grade school with 51-48 boys and 46-41 girls.
1966 1968 St. Thomas' Lodge Pole MT   This was a mission of St. Paul's INdian Mission in Hays. St. Thomas' had a religious vacation school with 65 students.
1966 1968 St. Joseph's Zortman MT   This was a mission of St. Paul's Indian Mission in Hays. St. Joseph's had a religious vacation school with 10 students.

1968

Helena diocese.

1972 St. Ignatius' St. Ignatius MT 4/5, 3/3, 1/2, 1/3  
1968 1972 St. John Berchman's Jocko MT   This was a mission of St. Ignatius' in St. Ignatius, MT.
1968 1972 St. Leonard's Dixon MT   This was a mission of St. Ignatius' in St. Ignatius, MT.
1970 1972 Sacred Heart Arlee MT   This was a mission of St. Ignatius' in St. Ignatius, MT.

1972

Spokane diocese.

1973 St. Mary's Mission Omak WA 3/3  
1972 1973 St. Joseph's East Omak WA   This was a mission of St. Mary's Mission in Omak.

1973

Elden Francis Curtiss succeeded Hunthausen as Helena bishop (1976-1993).

1981 St. Ignatius' St. Ignatius MT 2/3, 1/4, 2/4  
1973 1981 St. John Berchman's Jocko MT   This was a mission of St. Ignatius' in St. Ignatius, MT.
1973 1979 St. Leonard's Dixon MT   This was a mission of St. Ignatius' in St. Ignatius, MT.
1973 1981 Sacred Heart Arlee MT   This was a mission of St. Ignatius' in St. Ignatius, MT.

1981

Boise City bishop was Sylvester William Treinen (1962-1988).

1984 Sacred Heart DeSmet ID 2/3, 2/4 This was a Coeur d'Alene Indian Mission.
1981 1984 Our Lady of Perpetual Help Plummer ID   This was a mission of Sacred Heart in DeSmet.
1981 1984 St. Michael's Worley ID   This was a mission of Sacred Heart in DeSmet.
1984 1985         Robinson is not indexed in the 1985 Directory.

1985

Portland in Oregon archbishop was Cornelius Michael Power (1974-1986).

1986 St. Luke's Woodburn OR 3/3 St. Luke's had a school with 246 students.
1985 1986 St. Agnes/Mision San Lucas Hubbard OR   This was a mission of St. Luke's in Woodburn.

1986

Great Falls-Billings bishop was Thomas Joseph Murphy (1978-1987), followed by Anthony Michael Milone (1987-2006).

1988 St. Thomas the Apostle Harlem MT 1/1  
1986 1988 St. Thomas Aquinas Hogeland MT   This was a mission of St. Thomas Aquinas in Harlem, MT.
1986 1988 Sacred Heart Belknap MT   This was a mission of St. Thomas Aquinas in Harlem, MT.
    St. Jude Havre MT   This assignment is per nwjesuits.org.

1988

Tod David Brown was Boise City bishop (1988-1998).

1993 St. Stanislaus' Lewiston ID 2/2 In residence. St. Stanislaus' had a school with 160-170 students.
1988 1993 St. Joseph Regional Medical Center Lewiston ID chaplain  

1993

Spokane bishop was William Stephen Skylstad (1990-2010), followed by Blase Joseph Cupich (2010-).

2014 Regis Jesuit Community Spokane WA   Robinson died May 22, 2014.

 

Sources: Official Catholic Directory (New York: P.J. Kenedy and Sons, 1956-2012)

• Edmund J. Robinson, S.J. 50 Years in the Priesthood, Nwjesuits.org, 2005
• New Lawsuit Filed against Catholic Church in Montana, Great Falls Tribune, February 8, 2012
• Sex Abuse Lawsuit Filed against Catholic Diocese of Great Falls-Billings, By David Sherman, KRTV, February 8, 2012
• Ten New Clergy Sex-Abuse Victims File Suit against Roman Catholic Diocese of Great Falls-Billings, Montana - from Kosnoff Fasy Pllc, Market Watch, February 8, 2012
• Sex Abuse Suit Filed against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Great Falls-Billings, By Kimball Bennion, Great Falls Tribune, February 9, 2012
• More Details in Child Abuse Lawsuit against Catholic Diocese, KPAX, June 7, 2012
• Lawyers Suing Two Catholic Dioceses in Montana Represent More Than 250 Clients, Kosnoff Fasy, January 31, 2014
• Forgive You, Father, By Jimmy Tobias, Missoula Independent, March 27, 2014
• Diocese of Helena List of Alleged Perpetrators, April 29, 2015
• Montana's reservations were 'dumping grounds' for predatory priests, suit alleges, By Seaborn Larson, Great Falls Tribune, August 16, 2017

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 Robinson'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 August 30, 2017.