Rev. Paul A. Deyo

Summary of Case: Credibly accused in May 2003 of abusing a boy in Johnson County in 1998. Deyo was principal of Bishop Heelan High School in Sioux City when the allegation was made (he had been at the school for 3 years), and he is now on leave. Deyo was ordained in 1976 and worked in 6 parishes (2 as pastor) and 2 other schools: Assumption High School in Davenport for 7 years and Regina High School in Iowa City for 9 years. He was also director of Regina Religious Education for 2 years.

Ordained: August 14, 1976
Incardinated: Davenport IA

Start	Stop	Parish	Town	State	Position	Notes
1976	1978	St. Mary's	Clinton	IA	Associate Pastor, 2/2. Pastors were Rev. Edward J. Leahy, then Rev. Lawrence D. Soens, a diocesan consultor, vice officialis of the tribunal, and future bishop of Sioux City IA (1983-98). In the 1977 Official Catholic Directory, Soens is listed as the chairman of the personnel board; no chairman is listed in the 1978 Directory.	School with 180-197 pupils, high school with 224-209 pupils.
1978	1984	Notre Dame International School	Rome	Italy	On duty outside the diocese.
1984	1991	Assumption High School	Davenport	IA	Teacher, athletic director, and dean of students, 1/3, 1/2, 1/3 (but with one priest unnamed). Other priests were Rev. John D. Spiegel, Rev. David G. Steinle, and Rev. Richard A. Wilson. The last was a priest from the Peoria diocese.
1988	1991	St. Mary's	Davenport	IA	Pastor, 1/1.	Deyo is pastor up until the end of this assignment, according to the OCD; only in the 1991 OCD is he listed as administrator. But the diocese's 8/29/04 press release states that Deyo was administrator for the entire time at St. Mary's.
1991	1997	St. Patrick's	Iowa City	IA	2/2, with Rev. Robert J. Busher as pastor. In 1993, Deyo was shifted to "in residence" status, and in 1994 he became 3/3, still in residence, with the arrival of Rev. Dennis Hoffman as the number two priest. In 1996 or very early 1997, Busher and Hoffman both left (an unusual circumstance), but Deyo remained in residence, now with Rev. James J. Vrba as pastor (1997 Directory).
1991	2000	Regina Junior Senior High School	Iowa City	IA	Sole priest listed; principal was Mr. Brian J. Corkery, then Ms. Joy Kelly.	292 students in 1991-92.
1993	1995	Regina Religious Education	Iowa City	IA	Director	No one was listed in this position in the 1996 OCD; then Sr. Mary Frances Michalec is listed in the 1997 OCD.
1996	1997	St. Peter's	Cosgrove	IA	Administrator?	The diocese's 8/29/04 press release states that Deyo worked in these parishes. But the 1997 Official Catholic Directory lists these parishes as "unassigned," and lists Deyo as still "in residence" at St. Patrick's.
1996	1997	St. Mary's	Oxford	IA	Administrator?
1997	2000	St. Wenceslaus	Iowa City • In 2003, a man accused Deyo of abusing him in 1998 when he was a minor (1, 2). The diocese investigated and found the accusation credible.	IA	Pastor, 1/2, with Rev. Lawrence Smith as the number two, and then Patrick J. Hilgendorf.	Deyo replaced Rev. Harry Linnenbrink, who retired and made room for Deyo at St. Wenceslaus. Linnenbrink had also been Episcopal Vicar of Iowa City. That office was filled by Rev. Kenneth E. Kuntz, pastor of St. Mary of the Assumption. This was a significant change, because the episcopal vicar's seat had been St. Wenceslaus since the office had been created by Bishop O'Keefe. Madsen, Denning, and Linnenbrink had all lived and worked at St. Wenceslaus. In 2000 the office was eliminated by Bishop Franklin.
2000	2003	Bishop Heelan High School	Sioux City	IA	The Official Catholic Directories do not specify, but a Quad-City Times article states that Deyo was dean of students for two years, and that he became principal in the fall of 2002 and was principal when he was accused in 2003. The 2003 Official Catholic Directory lists Deyo without title, although the previous principal, Richard A. Banke, had been identified as principal. Other priests at Heelan were Rev. Verne P. Stapenhorst and Rev. Alfred E. McCoy. Mr. James Rouse was Supt. in these years.	In 2000-2001 there were 664 students. In May 2003, the Sioux City diocese was informed that Deyo had been accused of abuse, and "soon after" the Sioux City diocese was informed that Deyo had returned to the Davenport diocese. The Davenport diocese reported the allegation to Assistant Johnson County attorney Anne Lahey on July 11, 2003. The alleged incident occurred during 1998 in Johnson County. On 8/24/04, the Davenport diocese announced that an internal investigation had found the allegation "credible," after press reports starting on 8/20 describing the allegation but not naming the priest. The diocese made public Deyo's name on 8/28/04.

Source: Official Catholic Directory (New York: Kenedy and Sons, 1977-2004). David Montgomery, "Announcement from the Diocese of Davenport" (Davenport, Iowa: Diocese of Davenport, August 29, 2004). Thomas Geyer, "Diocese Releases Name of Priest in Abuse Case" (Quad-City Times, August 28, 2004).

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 Deyo's career history as it is represented in the Official Catholic Directory and in other sources with the one allegation against Deyo as it is reported in the media. We make no representation regarding the truth of the allegation we report. It is our understanding that Deyo has not admitted to the offense with which he is charged, although a diocesan investigation has found the accusation to be "credible." We remind our readers that in the U.S. judicial system, a person is considered innocent until proven guilty.

A Note on Nomenclature: We use the term "assignment record," instead of the more common "service record," because "service" is not an appropriate word for the activities of an abusive priest. Dioceses are often less than forthcoming about the activities of retired priests, but when we can determine those activities, we list them in these assignment records, particularly if they involve ministry. Retired priests remain under obedience to their bishop, and even the activities of laicized priests should be a concern to the diocese.

This assignment record was last updated on 10/27/04.