Father John Piatkowski – Diocese of Erie

Assignment Record:

DatesAssignment
1934 Ordained in the Diocese of Erie
1935 – 1948 St. Stanislaus Kostka Church, Erie, PA / Tyler, PA
1948 – 1970 Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church, Sykesville, PA
Sources:
  • Report I of the 40th Statewide Investigating Grand Jury, released by the Office of the Pennsylvania Attorney General, dated July 27, 2018
  • 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 Piatkowski was accused of sexually abusing a male minor child on at least fifty occasions from approximately 1949 to 1953 when the boy was approximately 8 to 12 years old. At the time of the sexual abuse, Father Piatkowski was assigned to Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church (“Assumption Church”) in Sykesville, Pennsylvania, and the boy attended catechism classes taught by Father Piatkowski.
  • The sexual abuse by Father Piatkowski occurred after catechism classes, which were held in the basement of Assumption Church or in a house across the street from the church. The sexual abuse included the following: Father Piatkowski repeatedly gave the boy long, tight hugs. On some occasions Father Piatkowski kissed the boy on the lips and inserted his tongue into the boy’s mouth. On at least one occasion, Father Piatkowski fondled the boy’s genitals over the boy’s clothing.
  • The claim settled in 2020 in the mid-five figures.