Fr. William (Bill) J. Groves
Ordained: 1980
Notes: Fr. William Groves was ordained a priest in the Diocese of Pueblo. In 1990, Fr. Groves was criminally charged with sexual assault on a child. He pled guilty and was sentenced to 4 years’ probation and ordered to attend a sex-offender treatment program. Fr. Groves was removed from ministry in 1990. He reportedly moved to Crushing, Oklahoma, where he began working as a chaplain and addiction counselor. After being fired in 2002, Fr. Groves reportedly resurfaced in Franklin, North Carolina, where, to this day, he is believed to be serving as president and minister at the Spiritual Light Center. In 2009, two survivors filed a lawsuit accusing Fr. Groves of sexually abusing them in the 1980s at St. Mary’s in Walsenburg and St. Ignatius in Ignacio, when both survivors were minors. Fr. Groves is included in the Colorado Attorney General’s Special Master’s Report on “Roman Catholic Clergy Sexual Abuse of Children in Colorado from 1950 to 2019.”
Assignments within the Archdiocese/Diocese(s) in Colorado: Pueblo
Assignments:
- 1981-1982: St. Mary Church, Walsenburg, CO (PBL)
- 1983: St. Leander, Pueblo, CO (PBL)
- 1984-1986: St. Columba Church, Durango, CO (PBL)
- 1986-1989: St. Ignatius Mission, Ignacio, CO (PBL)
- 1990-2002: Absent on Leave (PBL)
- 2003-2019: Unknown