New Lawsuit Claims Fmr. Priest Sexually Abused 4 Boys

By Sarah Clark
Fox4
February 23, 2012

http://fox4kc.com/2012/02/23/new-lawsuit-claims-fmr-priest-sexually-abused-4-boys/

The Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph faces a new lawsuit alleging sexual abuse by former priest John Tulipana.

Tulipana was forced out of the ministry in 1994. He’s accused of sexually abusing four boys from one family on fishing trips, camping trips and at the boys’ home while serving at St. Catherine of Siene Church in Kansas City.

Tulipana was ordained in 1972. The abuse against the four boys, ages 10 to 16, is alleged to have started in 1976.

According to a statement from SNAP, the Survivor’s Network of those Abused by Priests, two separate complaints had been filed against Tulipana alleging abuse prior to 1993. In 1993 and 1994, Tulipana was ordered to undergo psychological evaluations at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland and at the Servants of the Paraclete in Jimenez, New Mexico. At the conclusion of these evaluations, Tulipana was allowed to return to ministry.

In 1994, Bishop Boland barred Tulipana from ministry. According to SNAP, after Tulipana was barred, the diocese received three more complaints alleging sexual misconduct against him.

According to SNAP, Tulipana was an associate pastor of the following parishes: Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in Independence; Coronation of Our Lady, in Grandview; and Christ the King, in Kansas City. Additionally, he was pastor of: St. Augustine, in Kansas City; Holy Rosary, in Clinton; and St. Catherine of Siena, in Kansas City. After a leave of absence for in-patient evaluations and with the approval of medical specialists, he was in residence at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception until his resignation.

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