Father Lawrence W. Donovan – Diocese of Trenton

Assignment Record:

YearsAssignment
Approx. 1937 Ordained in the Diocese of Trenton
1938 – 1940 St. Mary’s Church, Bordertown, NJ
1941 – 1942 St. Mary’s Church, Perth, NJ
1943 – 1944 St. John the Evangelist Church, Dunellen, NJ
1945 – 1946 St. Joseph’s Church, Trenton, NJ
1947 St. Michael’s Children’s Home, Hopewell, NJ
1948 – 1949 St. James the Less Church, Jamesburg, NJ
1950 – 1987 St. Joseph’s Church, Toms River, NJ
1981 – 1982 “Serra Club”
1983 “Monmouth County Chapter”
1984 – 1987 “Serra Club”
Source:
  • 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 Donovan died in 1987.
  • Father Lawrence W. Donovan was accused of sexually abusing a male minor child on at least two occasions in approximately 1946 when the boy was approximately 13 years old. At the time of the sexual abuse, Father Donovan was assigned to St. Joseph’s Church in Trenton, New Jersey, and the boy served as an altar boy at St. Joseph’s Church.
  • The sexual abuse by Father Donovan included the following: Father Donovan exposed his own penis to the boy, fondled the boy’s penis and testicles over the boy’s clothing, and sodomized the boy.
  • The claimant passed away prior to the resolution of his claim.
  • The case settled on behalf of the claimant’s estate in 2020 in the low six figures. .