Rev. Perry L. Robinson, s.j.- Assignment Record

Assignment Record— Rev. Perry L. Robinson, s.j.

Summary of Case: Robinson was sent to St. Luke's Institute for treatment twice in the 1980s. He was fired from his long-time high school teaching position in Milwaukee in 1988 for taking nude photographs of students, and was quietly transferred to a parish in Omaha, NE. He was removed from ministry in Omaha In February, 2011 after a man informed the Omaha archbishop of the earlier allegations against Robinson. The man also stated that Robinson had given him an inappropriate backrub in the early 1980s when he was one of Robinson's high school students in Milwaukee. Robinson's Omaha parishioners were informed in March in the church bulletin only that the Jesuits were putting him on sabbatical because he was slowing down due to age-he would soon be 70.

Ordained: 1972

Start	Stop	Parish	Town/Accusations	State	Position	Notes
1972 St. Louis archbishop was John Joseph Carberry (1968-1979)	1973	Lewis Memorial Jesuit Community	St. Louis	MO
1973 Milwaukee archbishop was William Edward Cousins (1958-1977), followed by Rembert George Weakland (1977-2002)	1988	Marquette University High School	Milwaukee • Robinson was quietly fired from Marquette University High School in 1988 for taking nude photos of MUH students. • A former MUH student informed Omaha archbishop Lucas in a 2011 letter about the previous Milwaukee allegations involving Robinson. The man also wrote that Robinson gave him an inappropriate backrub when the man was a young MUH student in the early 1980s.	WI	teacher	School had 1,063-1,011 students, all male. During his time as a MUH teacher, Robinson was sent twice to St. Luke's Institute in Maryland, which is a treatment center for clergy sex offenders and clergy with sexual disorders. The Jesuits destroyed Robinson's photos, rather than turning them over the police.
1988 Omaha bishop was Daniel Eugene Sheehan (1969-1993)	1989	Campion House	Omaha	NE		In 2011 the Omaha archdiocese's spokesperson claimed that Archbishop Sheehan was not aware of the allegations against Robinson when he hired him.
1989	2010	Jesuit Community at Creighton University	Omaha	NE		In 1993 a former MUH teacher and two Jesuit seminarians spoke publicly of their concerns about Robinson.
1989 Sheehan was succeeded by Elden Francis Curtiss (1993-2009), who was replaced by George Joseph Lucas (2009-)	Feb. 2011	St. Gerald's	Ralston	NE	3/3, 2/2	Parish had a school with 294-397 students, and a religious education program with 342-1,438 students. In Feb. 2011 Robinson was removed from ministry in the Omaha archdiocese after an allegation of inappropriate contact in the 1980s with a high school student surfaced. The archdiocese kept this quiet initially. The St. Gerald's community was informed in the March 6, 2011 church bulletin only that the Jesuits placed Robinson on sabbatical, because "his health is slowing him down a bit" and because he was soon to be 70 years old. Parishioners were encouraged to pray for Robinson, and to send him cards and gifts.

Sources: Official Catholic Directory (New York: P.J. Kenedy and Sons, 1973-2010)

• Priest Can't Serve in Omaha, By Christopher Burbach, The World-Herald, March 17, 20
• SNAP Wisconsin Letter to Jesuit Provincial Concerning Fr. Perry Robinson, SNAP - Wisconsin, March 17, 2011
• Omaha Priest with State Ties Removed after Allegations, By Annysa Johnson, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, March 19, 2011
• Marquette University High School Alumnus Accuses Jesuit of Abuse, By Zach Buchheit, Marquette Tribune, March 24, 2011
• St. Gerald's church bulletin, March 6, 2011

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 June 2, 2011.