Francis J. Stinner
Father Francis Stinner was ordained in the Archdiocese of New York in 1967. He was initially assigned to Immaculate Conception in Port Jervis, New York, as Associate Pastor. While there, he sexually abused multiple children. Fr. Stinner went on to teach at two high schools, John S. Burke Catholic High School in Goshen, New York, and John F. Kennedy High School in Somers, New York, where he continued to have access to children. He also coached soccer at John F. Kennedy High School. Subsequently, he worked at St. Joseph’s in Bronxville, New York, and St. John and St. Mary in Chappaqua, New York.
In 1988, the parents of a child sexual abuse survivor wrote a letter to the Archdiocese alleging that Fr. Stinner had abused their son in the early 1980s. Fr. Stinner denied the allegations and the Archdiocese allowed him to remain in ministry after assuring the survivor’s parents that Fr. Stinner would receive treatment. However, when the survivor learned that Fr. Stinner was working at St. Joseph’s Church in Bronxville in 1995, he approached Archdiocese officials once again. The survivor settled with the Archdiocese for $35,000 and signed a release.
In 1997, three men alleged that Fr. Stinner sexually abused them in the 1960s and 1970s in Orange County, New York. The Archdiocese bought one of the alleged survivors a car and paid for his therapy and college education, but denied that the money represented and admission of Fr. Stinner’s guilt. The Archdiocese then removed Fr. Stinner from St. Joseph’s, where he was working in 1997, and hired a firm to investigate the allegations. The firm’s report confirmed that Fr. Stinner had sexually abused the men. Later, in 2002, the Archdiocese included Fr. Stinner’s name on a list of priests accused of abuse and turned the list over to prosecutors in Orange County, but never turned over the investigative firm’s report confirming Fr. Stinner’s abuse.
After he was removed from St. Joseph’s, Fr. Stinner occasionally celebrated weekend Mass at St. John and St. Mary in Chappaqua, New York, until 2002. In 2005, Fr. Stinner was laicized. He died in August 2017.
The Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program of the Archdiocese of New York has made financial settlement available to at least one survivor of Fr. Stinner’s abuse.
Fr. Francis Stinner worked at the following locations:
- 1967-1972: Immaculate Conception, Port Jervis, NY
- 1972-1980: John S. Burke Catholic High School, Goshen, NY
- 1980-1989: John F. Kennedy Catholic High School, Somers, NY
- 1991-1997: St. Joseph’s, Bronxville, NY
- 1997-2002: Saint John and St. Mary, Chappaqua, NY
- 2003-2004: Unknown
- 2005: Laicized
(Sources: http://www.bishop-accountability.org/;http://www.bishop-accountability.org/ny-ny/Egan-2002-03-d.htm; and http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/ex-altar-boy-abused-100-times-accused-priest-westchester-article-1.482355)