Fr. David G. Bentley
Ordained: 1975
Assignments:
- 1976-1977: Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Albany, NY (ALB)
- 1978-1984: St. Teresa of Avila, Albany, NY (ALB)
- 1985-1986: Sacred Heart, Sidney, NY (ALB)
- 1987-1992: St. James, Albany, NY (ALB)
- 1990-1992: Special Assignment; Albany Medical Center Hospital, Albany, NY (ALB)
- 1993: St. Margaret May, Albany, NY (ALB)
- 1994-1997: On Duty Outside Diocese; Custody of St. Francis, P.O. Box 20111, Kitwe, Zambia, Africa
- 1998-1999: Special Assignment; 40 N. Ave., Albany, NY (ALB)
- 2000-2001: Unassigned; 40 N. Ave., Albany, NY (ALB)
- 2002-2004: Office of Administrative Advocate
- 2005-2019: Unknown
Fr. David G. Bentley worked in the Diocese of Albany for approximately two decades until he was first publicly accused of sexual abuse in a lawsuit filed in 1994. In the lawsuit, a man alleges Fr. Bentley sexually abused him as a boy at the Albany Home for Children in the 1970s. Three years later, the first man’s brother, as well as another man, came forward claiming Fr. Bentley also abused them at the Albany Home for Children. Fr. Bentley was officially removed from ministry in 2002. Another lawsuit, filed in 2005, alleges Fr. Bentley sexually abused a boy, beginning when he was eleven years old, on overnight trips to Boston, Massachusetts in the 1980s. The most recent known lawsuit against Fr. Bentley was filed in 2018, in which a man alleges he was sexually abused by Fr. Bentley at Holy Family Catholic Church in Deming, New Mexico, in the late 1990s. Fr. Bentley has been included on the Diocese of Albany’s 2015, 2018, and 2019 lists of “Clergy Credibly Accused While Serving in the Diocese of Albany,” and on the Diocese of Las Cruces’ list of “Priests and religious credibly accused of sexual abuse of minors who have served within the current territorial boundaries of the Diocese of Las Cruces.” Fr. Bentley’s current status as a priest, current whereabouts, and whether he has access to children are unknown.