Joliet Diocese List of Abusers Includes Former Glen Ellyn Pastor

By Charlotte Eriksen
The Patch
March 21, 2013

http://glenellyn.patch.com/articles/joliet-diocese-list-of-credibly-accused-abusers-includes-former-glen-ellyn-pastor

In addition to the thousands of pages to be released detailing the abuse by Catholic priests in the Joliet Diocese, the organization Tuesday also released an updated list of credibly accused abusers.

The list includes Lawrence Gibbs, who was ordained in 1973 and served at churches in Glen Ellyn, Downers Grove, Lockport and Lombard before he was removed from ministry in 1992.

New allegations filed in June 2012 accuse Gibbs of molesting several young boys in the 70s. Gibbs' accuser, who went to catechism school at St. James the Apostle Catholic Church in Glen Ellyn, says Gibbs gave several boys alcohol and porn and had the boys play games, swim and perform other activities naked during a retreat at a Wisconsin cabin in 1977, according to a CBS Chicago report.

Gibbs is scheduled to appear in Will County court April 18 for a status hearing.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Gibbs was accused in civil suits of molesting children during his stints at churches in Lombard, Lockport and St. James the Apostle Catholic Church in Glen Ellyn, according to CBS Chicago.

He was charged in January 1993 by a 22-year-old man who claimed Gibbs sexually abused him up to 50 times starting at age 11 while an associate pastor in Lockport and later when the man attended a Catholic school in Lemont, according to a 1993 Chicago Tribune report.

He was also charged that month by a man who identified himself as John Doe, who claimed he was sexually abused by Gibbs 12 years earlier, according to the Tribune.

The list of Joliet Diocesan priests with credible allegations now stands at 34. According an NBC5 report, the list includes the names of priests named in lawsuits and some who have already been convicted.

Find the updated list here.

As part of a lawsuit settlement also approved Tuesday, the Catholic Diocese of Joliet will release more than 7,000 internal documents that reportedly show that every bishop since the 1950s has been aware of diocese priests sexually abusing children.

The documents include personnel files and other items related to 15 diocese priests accused of sexual abuse over a 50-year period ending in the 1990s. They will be released by plaintiff David Rudofski through his Chicago lawyer, Terrence Johnson, as part of his settlement with the diocese.

Although the diocese bears the Joliet name, it actually encompasses seven counties—Will, DuPage, Grundy, Kendall, Ford, Iroquois and Kankakee.