Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers – MM - BishopAccountability.org

12 Accused in This Religious Order

Fr. Joseph E. Avery

Order: MM
Ordained: 1949
Status: Sued

Died: 08/15/1997
Diocese: Diocese of Honolulu HI

Accused in a 2016 lawsuit of sexually abusing a boy at Good Shepherd Parish in Honomu and at St. Joseph's Parish in Hilo in the 1970s. Died 8/15/1997.

Sources:

San Jose Mercury News 10.23.18

Fr. Stanley F. Banaszek

Order: MM
Ordained: 1970
Status: Settled

Diocese: Diocese of Bridgeport CT

Accused of sexually assaulting a former altar boy in 1985 at St. Anthony of Padua in Bridgeport, CT. Case was settled with others by the Bridgeport diocese in 10/2003. (Name occasionally spelled Bonaszek or Bonzszek.) Added to the Richmond diocese's list 6/27/2019, where he was assigned 1974-1975. Per a 2019 report commissioned by the Bridgeport diocese, there were two victims of abuse occurring 1977-1987, one age 15, both boys. Left the diocese in 1987. Died in 2007.

Assignments:

Sources:

Fr. Ronald Boccieri

Donate Photo

Order: MM
Ordained: 1962
Status: Sued

Died: 05/1/2015
Diocese: Archdiocese of New York NY

A man claimed in a lawsuit filed in late 2019 that Boccieri sexually abused him as a boy when his parents were Maryknoll lay missioners.The family lived near Maryknoll's Ossining campus and ate most of their meals there. Boccieri allegedly began grooming the boy in Ossining, then abused him at a cabin in the Catskills. Boccieri died 5/1/15.

Sources:

Fr. Stanley Bonzszek

Donate Photo

Order: MM
Status: Settled

Diocese: Diocese of Bridgeport CT

Named publicly as accused by the Bridgeport diocese on its list 3/22/2019. One known allegation. Died in 9/2007. Settlement(s).

Sources:

Fr. Francis J. Daubert

Order: MM
Ordained: 1938
Status: Settled

Died: 05/22/1983
Diocese: Diocese of Honolulu HI

Spent priesthood in China, Hawaii, New York, Missouri. Accused in a lawsuit settled in 3/2016 of raping a 12-year-old altar boy at Good Shepherd in Honomu HI in 1967, while filling in for the pastor. Daubert was said to have tied the boy with ropes in a "game," then sodomized and assaulted him for 6 hours. The accuser said he told his mother that night; she called the parish and a priest came to speak with her and the boy's father. Daubert was moved from the parish. He continued in ministry. The same lawsuit alleged sexual abuse of the boy years later by Rev. Anthony Pascale and Rev. William Queenan at St. Stephen's Diocesan Seminary in Kaneohe. Daubert died 5/22/1983.

Assignments:

Maryknoll Archives Obit dowloaded 03.17.16

Sources:

Fr. William Desmond

Order: MM
Ordained: 1948
Status: Sued

Died: 09/27/1985
Diocese: Diocese of Honolulu HI

Per Attorney Jeff Anderson, Desmond was accused in a 2014 lawsuit of sexually abusing a minor in 1974-1975 while assigned to St. Joseph's in Hilo. He died in 1985.

Assignments:

Jeff Anderson and Associates accessed 07.21.20

Sources:

Jeff Anderson and Associates accessed 07.21.20

Fr. Edward Flanagan

Order: MM
Ordained: 1964
Status: Accused

Died: 09/25/2016
Diocese: Archdiocese of New York NY

Accused in a 6/19 court filing of sexually abusing a boy 1962-1970, beginning when the child was age 4, including an incident in the Bahamas, where the priest had accompanied the victim's family. The court filing on behalf of the victim's estate sought discovery from the Maryknoll order after the victim took his own life on 1/14/19. Flanagan had reportedly joined the Maryknolls in 1956 as a religious brother, was ordained in 1964, and worked at St John and St Mary church in Chappaqua NY in the 1960s, when he received psychological counseling but was allowed to continue working with children and families. His connection with the parish is documented as early as 1962, when Flanagan was a seminarian. He reportedly left the order in 1971, became a follower of Meher Baba, worked as a 'writer-actor and bioenergy healer,' and died on 9/25/16.

Sources:

Fr. Joseph Michael Henry

Order: MM
Ordained: 1933
Status: Sued

Died: 11/13/1974
Diocese: Diocese of Honolulu HI

From Ireland. Assigned to Bedford MA, Manchuria, Cincinnati OH, Hawaii. Arrived in Hawaii in 1949 and worked for one year at a Honolulu parish, then named pastor of St. Anthony's in Oahu in 1950, where he remained until his death 11/13/1974. In a 1991 petition against Bishop Joseph Ferrario, a man claimed Fr. Henry was the priest who first sexually abused him as a child, during 1964 -1972. Allegedly, the boy told later told Ferrario (Henry's successor) of his abuse by Henry, then Ferrario began abusing him, too. Henry was named as an abuser in a 2012 civil suit by another man who alleged abuse by both Henry and Ferrario. Also accused in a 2013 suit of abuse in the 1950s. At least six allege abuse at St. Anthony's 1952-1974. Two more complaints against Henry were filed 4/13/2016.

Fr. James A. Jackson

Order: MM
Ordained: 1948
Status: Sued

Died: 03/16/2005
Diocese: Diocese of Honolulu HI

Accused in 6/2002 by at least three men of abusing them when they were children. Jackson worked in Hawaii 1948-1992. No criminal charges were filed due to the statute of limitations; there were no records of complaints in his personnel file with the Order. Jackson admitted abuse of boys, saying it was due to a surgical procedure he'd had on a testicle. He reportedly abused boys for over 25 years. Treated by psychiatrist Robert Browne, who was later found to be pedophile. Died in 3/2005. There were protests in 2013 about a scholarship offered in his name at Maryknoll High School on Honolulu. A lawsuit was filed in 2018 by a man alleging repeated abuse as a boy at Sacred Heart in Makiki by Jackson 1980-1981. This was the sixth known accuser.

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Fr. Walter E. Johnson

Order: MM
Ordained: 1953
Status: Accused

Died: 04/14/2018
Diocese: Diocese of Rockford IL

Named publicly as accused on the Rockford diocese's list 11/14/2018. Noted to have been removed by his Order in 4/1988, reinstated in 9/1988, then removed again in 4/1993. Worked in the Chicago IL archdiocese, Bolivia, and the Dioceses of Rockford IL and San Jose CA. Moved to Maryknoll NY in 2004. Died 4/14/2018. Included in the 5/23/2023 IL Attorney General's Report, which notes six "reported survivors."

Assignments:

Maryknoll Mission Archives 04.14.18

Sources:

Fr. Dennis J. Laroche

Order: MM
Ordained: 1974
Status: Accused

Diocese: Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston TX

Named publicly as accused by the Galveston-Houston archdiocese on its list 1/31/19. Included on the Burlington VT diocese's list 8/22/19. LaRoche worked in the Philippines and East Africa, then the Diocese of Galveston-Houston, which he left in 1987. Assigned to VT parishes 11/87 until 8/92 when his assignment was "terminated" and he returned to his order. Left ministry by 2/1/93.

Assignments:

Diocese of Burlington List 08.22.19

Sources:

Fr. Edward V. Mueth

Order: MM
Ordained: 1924
Status: Sued

Died: 07/23/1983
Diocese: Diocese of Honolulu HI

Spent 26 years of priesthood Kongmoon, China, then another 7 years in Hong Kong. Worked in Hawaii 1957-1964 before retiring due to ill health. Died 7/23/1983. Named in a 2/2013 civil suit as an abuser, along with Fr. Joseph Henry, of at least one person at St. Anthony's Church in Kailua, HI in the 1950s. Alleged to have exposed his genitalia and rubbed his exposed genitalia on an altar boy's face in an effort to force oral sex.