Father John L. Murray – Diocese of Erie

Assignment Record (per the Pennsylvania Grand Jury report):

DatesAssignment
Approx. 1947 Ordained in the Diocese of Erie
1947 – 1955 Sacred Heart Church, Sharon, PA
1955 – 1960 St. Paul Church, Erie, PA
1959 – 1966 Erie Cathedral Preparatory School (faculty), Erie, PA
1966 – 1969 DuBois Central Catholic High School (headmaster), DuBois, PA
1967 – 1968 St. Bernard Church, Falls Creek, PA
1968 – 1972 “Health Leave”
1972 – 1979 Our Lady Queen of the Americas Church, Conneaut Lake, PA
1979 – 1985 St. Matthew in the Wood Church, Erie, PA

 

Official Catholic Directory entries:

DatesAssignment
1986 – 1988 “Leave of Absence” (per the Official Catholic Directory)
1989 – 2002 “Retired” (per the Official Catholic Directory)
Sources:
  • Report I of the 40th Statewide Investigating Grand Jury, released by the Office of the Pennsylvania Attorney General, dated July 27, 2018;and
  • The Official Catholic Directory, Kenedy & Sons

(The years listed above are the publication years of the Official Catholic Directory. According to the Directory, the assignments provided for a given year are effective as of January 1 of that year. This means that a priest listed in the Directory for a given year at a parish or school was likely at the same assignment for at least part of the previous year as well.)

Summary:
  • Father John L. Murray was accused of sexually abusing a male minor child on one occasion in approximately 1959 when the male child was approximately twelve years old. At the time of the sexual abuse, Father Murray was assigned to St. Paul Church in Erie, Pennsylvania, and the male child was a parishioner of the church. Father Murray sexually abused the boy at a beach in Erie,
    Pennsylvania.
  • The sexual abuse by Father Murray included the following: Father Murray fondled the boy’s penis and testicles, skin-on-skin, and Father Murray rubbed his body against the boy’s such that the boy could feel Father Murray’s erect penis against the boy’s body over their clothing.
  • The claim settled in December 2019 in the low five figures.