USA--Accused predator priests still on the job

FACT SHEET – Accused predator priests still on the job

NOTE – One of these (Bryce) is an admitted molester. One is a bishop (Bransfield). Another one (Anderson) faces three accusers. One of them Yacyshyn has been sued within the last six months and those cases are pending. One of them (Stolzman) was put back on the job three months ago.

--Fr. Gregory Yacyshyn (New York, Rockeville Centre diocese)

Six months ago, a 20 year old girl, represented by the most experienced clergy sex abuse attorney in the US, sued Yacyshkyn and Rockville Centre diocesan officials.

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2015/01_02/2015_01_21_Andrew_York_Woman_Diocese.htm

Fr. Yacyshyn remains pastor of St. Jude’s parish in Shirley, NY.

http://www.stjudemb.org/old_bulletins/2011_12_04.pdf

--Bishop Michael J. Bransfield (West Virginia, Wheeling-Charleston)

In May 2012, he was implicated by a victim in testimony about predator priest, Fr. Stanley Gana. A separate allegation against him was revealed by Philadelphia archdiocese July 2012.

http://bishop-accountability.org/member/psearch.jsp?op=doSearch&lastName=Bransfield&section=a-z

http://www.bishopaccountability.org/assign/Bransfield_Michael_J.htm

Bishop Bransfield remains the Wheeling-Charleston bishop. He was not suspended nor did he temporarily step aside.

http://www.dwc.org/bishop-bransfield/bishop-bransfield.html

--Fr. William Stoltzman (Minnesota, St. Paul Archdiocese)

In 1997, Fr.  Stolzman was sent for an assessment because he was accused of having child pornography sent to his home. In 2008, a prison inmate reported to church staff that Fr. Stolzman sexually abused boys on camping trips. A month later, one of those victims wrote the St. Paul Archdiocese describing the crimes. Two months later, Fr. Stolzman retired. There was no announcement of the accusations to parishes or the public.)

http://www.andersonadvocates.com/documents/William%20Stolzman%20Timeline.pdf

http://www.andersonadvocates.com/documents/William%20Stolzman%20File.pdf

In April, Fr. Stolzman was “returned to public ministry” and now “celebrates Masses on a fill-in basis,” according to the Twin Cities archdiocese.

http://www.archspm.org/archspm_news/statement-regarding-rev-william-stolzman-2/

--Fr. Johnny Savoie (Alabama, Mobile archdiocese)

In February 2014, Savoie disclosed to his parishioners that he had been accused of molesting a child in Fairhope, Alabama. Earlier this year, the allegation surfaced during a separate civil lawsuit brought by several families charging bullying at Savoie’s parish school. Archdiocesan officials did not publicly announce the abuse report, nor did they suspend or remove Savoie during their purported investigation.

https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.bishop-accountability.org/assign/Savoie_Rev_Johnny_S.htm&sa=U&ved=0CAUQFjAAahUKEwjosM30sYXGAhUMoogKHXq1AB8&client=internal-uds-cse&usg=AFQjCNHck_XH6Ndsnw63Wjc89StX8b4U2A

Fr. Savoie continues as pastor of St. Pius church (with a parochial school) in Mobile.

http://www.mobilearchdiocese.org/parishes/viewparish.cfm?pid=10112

--Fr. Jerome F. Gillispie (Massachusetts, Boston Archdiocese)

In a Chelsea restaurant several years ago, he allegedly offered to pay the girl and her mother for oral sex. Gillespie has also undergone court-ordered evaluations for alcohol, psychiatric and sexual problems.

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2008/03_04/2008_04_28_FoxNews_SexAbuse.htm

While listed in the Official Catholic Directory as "unassigned," Fr. Gillespie now lives in at St. Mary-St. Catherine of Siena parish in Charlestown MA. The church has a religious education program for kids.  He's listed on the parish website under "clergy in residence"

http://stmarystcatherine.org/home/about-2/staff-directory/

--Fr. Jeffrey M. Weaver (Ohio)

http://fox8.com/2012/11/14/i-team-priest-reinstated-years-after-allegations-of-abuse/

http://www.snapnetwork.org/oh_accused_predator_priest_is_back_on_the_job

In November 2012, Bishop Richard Lennon announced he would put Fr. Weaver back on the job but refused to say where.

--Fr. Vincent Bryce (Missouri, St. Louis archdiocese)

His Catholic supervisor, a Dominican, has said that Fr. Bryce admits having molested at least one child. When that accusation surfaced, Bryce was yanked from his Michigan parish.

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2007/11_12/2007_11_11_Dwyer_PastorReportedly.htm

Fr. Bryce now works at the Aquinas Institute (a Catholic institution). He lives in a Jesuit building at Grand and Lindell. Both buildings are directly across a narrow street from the St. Louis University campus. (314-256-8809, 585-254-2020, [email protected]).

--Fr. Alex Anderson (Missouri, St. Louis archdiocese)

Three men, none of whom know one another, have separately accused Fr. Anderson of molesting them as kids. One of them, Arthur Andreas, was paid a $20,000+ settlement. Church officials find none of the accusers “credible.”

http://www.bishopaccountability.org/assign/Anderson_Alexander_R.htm

Fr. Anderson is now pastor of St. Rose of Lima parish in DeSoto.

http://www.stroseparish.info/

--Fr. Bruce H. Forman (Missouri, St.  Louis archdiocese)

In 2002, child sex abuse accusations against Forman, brought by Steve Pona, were reported in page one articles in the New York Times article and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. In 1995, Pona sued but church officials succeeded in getting case tossed out on the statute of limitations.

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news3/2002_03_03_Goodstein_2Path_Bruce_Forman_ETC_2.htm

Fr. Forman is now at Sts. Peter and Paul neighborhood in south St. Louis city and head of the Young Catholic Musicians, an archdiocesan-wide group that performs and travels. He was never suspended.

http://www.stspeterandpaulchurch-stlouis.net/Home/Leadership

 (NOTE – all of these cases, the victims or alleged victims are or were children. There are even more cases in which proven, admitted and credibly accused predators who assaulted vulnerable individuals, often in their late teens, are being kept on or put back on the job in Catholic parishes. Here’s one example.)

--Fr. Nicholas Assi (California, Los Angeles archdiocese)

In March, an adult woman, Kate Bergin sued Fr. Assi and his church supervisors. She reports being sexually assaulted by him last year inside the church, after he “put his hand under (her) shirt and sexually caressed (her) abdomen in slow, sensual circles, moving down (her) pants.” Before that, Bergin says that he hugged her, “put his nose in her neck, took deep breaths and snuggled.’” And another time, “Fr. Assi greeted her with a hug and kissed her on the lips,” she says.

http://www.dailybreeze.com/general-news/20150325/manhattan-beach-mother-files-sexual-abuse-lawsuit-against-former-american-martyrs-priest/1

Fr. Assi is now in ministry at St. Luke parish in Temple City: http://www.stluketemplecity.org/uploads/3/4/8/8/3488442/513837.stlukeparishbulletin.04.12.15web.pdf

(SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the world’s oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. SNAP was founded in 1988 and has more than 20,000 members. Despite the word “priest” in our title, we have members who were molested by religious figures of all denominations, including nuns, rabbis, bishops, and Protestant ministers. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)

Contact - David Clohessy (314-566-9790 cell, [email protected]), Barbara Dorris (314-503-0003 cell, [email protected]), Barbara Blaine (312-399-4747, [email protected])