Assignment Record– Rev. David F. West

Summary of Case: David F. West was ordained for the Detroit archdiocese in 1963. He worked in a number of parishes, and as a seminary faculty member and campus minister. He spent 1976-77 in the Lansing diocese on staff at a University of MI, Ann Arbor, student chapel. He died in April 2004. In December 2015 the archdiocese announced that they had received a credible allegation that West sexually abused a male minor in the 1970s.

Born: December 23, 1938
Ordained: December 16, 1963
Died: April 23, 2004

1965

Detroit archbishop was John Francis Dearden (1958-1980).

Royal Oak

St. Dennis' had a school with 613-455 boys and 615-457 girls.

1968

1972

1976

Lansing bishop was Kenneth Joseph Povish (1975-1995).

1977

Detroit archdiocese

1978

Dearden was succeeded by Edmund Casimir Szoka (1981-1990).

1990

Adam Joseph Maida replaced Szoka as Detroit archbishop (1990-2009).

St. Michael's had a school with 837 students, and a CCD program with 175 students.

West is not indexed beyond the 2003 Directory. He died April 23, 2004. (The Necrology section of the 2005 Directory misidentifies West as "John H." West. John H. West was another priest in the Detroit archdiocese, apparently ordained in 1980. John H. West is not indexed beyond the the 2004 Directory. Findagrave.com shows John West to have died April 14, 2005.)

Sources: Official Catholic Directory (New York: P.J. Kenedy and Sons, 1965-2005)

• Regarding Father David West, By Joe Kohn, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit, December 03, 2015
• Priest Who Died in "04 Now Called a Child Sex Abuser, By Bill Laitner, Detroit Free Press, December 7, 2015
• Late Michigan priest with Temperance ties named child sex abuser, By Jonathan Keilholz, 13 ABC, December 8, 2015
• Child Sex Abuse Allegation Against Late Priest Deemed ‘Credible’, CBS Detroit, December 8, 2015
• Popular Priest Who Served in 20 Area Parishes Found to Be a Child Sex Abuser, Deadline Detroit, December 8, 2015
• Priest Who Served in 17 Detroit-area Communities Accused of Sexual Abuse Years after Death, By Khalil AlHajal, MLive, December 8, 2015

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 West'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 December 11, 2015.