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Archdiocese of Chicago Fails to Tell the Public Where Offenders Live

Illinois Attorney General Report Shines Additional Light on Clergy Sexual Abuse in Illinois

(Chicago, IL) – Earlier this week, the office of Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul released an investigative report which revealed that at least 1,997 survivors were sexually abused by 451 Catholic priests in the 6 Catholic dioceses in Illinois. This report appends former Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s 2018 findings that Catholic dioceses in Illinois received allegations of more than 500 priests that had not been previously shared with the public.

“We applaud Attorney General Raoul’s decision to further expose the perils that once were and may remain in the dioceses in Illinois,” said Jeff Anderson. “As revealing and vital as these reports are, Catholic leadership in Illinois possess documents identifying perpetrators, when and where the abuse occurred, and who is responsible for covering the abuse up. We call on all dioceses in Illinois to release this information to the public immediately.”

The Archdiocese of Chicago’s list of Clergy with Substantiated Allegations of Sexual Abuse of a Minor fails to provide where each of these accused offenders lives and works today. Many are alive and believed to be living in Illinois, possibly with access to children. The Archdiocese found that each of the priests listed below sexually abused a minor, but the Archdiocese does not inform the community where they are. Jeff Anderson & Associates found the last known addresses of these offenders but believes the Archdiocese has more current information:

Priest’s Identity

Fr. Richard Barry Bartz

Fr. Arthur Bendixen

Fr. Leonard Adolph Bogdan

Fr. Daniel Peter Buck

Fr. John Walter Calicott

Fr. Walter George DeRoeck

Fr. James Vincent Flosi

Fr. Robert D. Friese

Fr. James Craig Hagan

Fr. Leonard Huske

Fr. John James Keehan

Fr. Daniel J. McCormack

Fr. Richard J. Poster

Fr. Thomas J. Swade

Fr. Walter Joseph Turlo

County Allegedly Residing

Cook, IL

Cook, IL

Maricopa, AZ

Cook, IL

Cook, IL

Santa Clara, CA

Cook, IL

DuPage, IL

Cook, IL

Cook, IL

DuPage, IL

Cook, IL

Montgomery County, MD

Lake County, IL

Cook, IL

“The fact that the Archdiocese of Chicago has not informed the public that these perpetrators may be living in these communities proves that the Archdiocese only acts in self-preservation,” said Jeff Anderson. “It is time for reckoning in the dioceses of Illinois. Priests who sexually abuse children must be exposed and treated no differently from registered sex offenders. No person who abuses a child should receive any leniency for their heinous crimes.”

In addition to Jeff Anderson & Associate’s independent research, the identities of Catholic clerics and religious brothers who are still alive with substantiated allegations of child sexual abuse who are included in the 2023 Office of the Illinois Attorney General Report on Catholic Clergy Child Sex Abuse are included below:

Joseph R. Bennett

Charles Conefrey

Philip J. Coury

James Diete

Federico Fernandez Baeza

Ed Hennessey

Joseph Jablonski

Bernard P. Knoth

Ronald Luka

Peter John McNamara

John Baptist (J.B.) Ormechea

Carlos Peralta

John F. Rohrich

Kenneth Stewart

John Benedict Weber

Robert L. Boley

Joseph A. Colletti

Robert Craig

Michael E. Dorrler

John J. Fitzgerald

Steven Henrich

Robert J. Joda

Richard James Kurtz

Gregory Madigan

Michael Montgomery

Joseph Owens

Sleeva Raju Policetti

Gerald Smola

Michael Trujillo

Bruce Wellems

Robert Noel Brouillette

Augustine “Gus” Cops

Vincent Dan Minh Cao

Daniel Michael Drinan

Joseph L. Fitzharris

James Hoder

Thomas J. Johnston

Richard L. Lause

Kevin (Dennis Kevin) McBrien

Robert (Hugh) Murphy

Frank Paduch

Richard J. Poster

William J. Spine

Roger W. Vaughn

William Wert

Vincent Bryce

Edmund Corrigan

Crescente (Sonny) Derivera

Dennis Drugan

Jesus P. Garza

Michael J. Hogan

Robert Louis Kealy

James Lewnard

Vincent McCaffrey

Felipe Navarrette Diaz

Eusebio (Chevy) Pantoja Segura

M. Lawrence Reuter

James R. Steel

Clovis Javier Vilchez-Parra

Michael Howard Weston

John Walter Calicott

Edward Courtney

Dominic Aloysius Diederich

Laurence Eagle

Dennis Huff

John Joseph Keough

Lawrence Lovell

Robert Joseph McDonald

William John O’Brien

P.B. Patitucci

Paul S. Reycraft

James Stein

Freddy Washington

Michael Winkels

Disclaimer:  All alleged perpetrators identified in this press briefing have been publicly identified in a list released by an archdioceses or dioceses or the 2023 Office of the Illinois Attorney General Report on Catholic Clergy Child Sex Abuse accusing them of child sexual abuse. The claims against these individuals may not have been thoroughly evaluated in a civil or criminal court. The allegations should not be considered proven or substantiated in a court of law. All individuals should be considered innocent until proven guilty.