Priest Assignment Records and Case Details Released

The Law Offices of Mitchell Garabedian has obtained settlements or arbitration awards for many victims and survivors who suffered sexual abuse by clergy or church personnel. The list can be found at at www.garabedianlaw.com/results-list. 

The firm added:

Detailed information on the assignment records and claim history of these abusers, together with sources, can be accessed by reading below as well as in the pdfs lnked above.

Please check back regularly as additional information is planned for release.

Father Sylvio Ruest – Archdiocese of Boston

Partial Assignment Record:

DatesAssignment
Approx. 1942 Ordained in the Archdiocese of Boston
1951 – 1953 Christ the King Church, Hudson, MA
1954 St. Louis Church, Lowell, MA
1955 St. Ann’s Church, Salem, MA
1956 “Absent on Sick Leave”
1957 St. Ann’s Church, Salem, MA
1958 – 1964 Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church, Bellingham, MA
1965 – 1969 "Absent on Sick Leave”; During this period, Father Ruest was indexed as living at 1835 Franklin Street, Denver, Colorado
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 Ruest died in 1969.
  • Father Sylvio Ruest was accused of sexually abusing a male minor child on at least five occasions from approximately 1957 to 1958 when the male child was approximately thirteen to fourteen years old. At the time of the sexual abuse, Father Ruest was assigned to Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Bellingham, Massachusetts, and the male child was a parishioner at the church. The sexual abuse took place inside the church and in the nearby rectory affiliated with the church.
  • The sexual abuse by Father Ruest included the following: Father Ruest exposed Father Ruest’s penis to the boy and forced the boy to fondle Father Ruest’s penis, skin-on-skin.
  • The claim settled in February 2020 in the high five figures.

Father Robert F. Ryan – Archdiocese of Philadelphia

Assignment Record:

DatesAssignment
1948 – 1956 St. Dorothy’s Church, Drexel Hill, PA
1952 – 1962 St. James High School, Chester, PA
1957 Holy Saviour Church (in residence), Linwood, PA
1958 – 1966 Holy Cross Church (in residence), Springfield, PA
1963 Roman Catholic High School for Boys, Philadelphia, PA
1964 – 1973 Cardinal O’Hara High School, Springfield, PA
1967 – 1975 St. Louis Church (in residence), Yeadon, PA
1974 – 1975 Roman Catholic High School for Boys, Philadelphia, PA
1976 – 1994 St. Gertrude Church, West Conshohocken, PA
1995 – 1996 “Retired” – in residence at St. Gertrude Church, West Conshohocken, PA
1997 – 2005 “Retired” – in residence at St. Gabriel’s Hall, Audubon, PA
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.)

Father Ryan died in December 2005.
 
Summary:
  • Father Robert F. Ryan was accused of sexually abusing a male minor child on two occasions from approximately 1962 to 1963 when the boy was approximately 14 years old. At the time of the sexual abuse, Father Ryan was assigned to Holy Cross Church in Springfield, Pennsylvania, and the boy was an altar boy at the church and a student at the nearby Holy Cross School.
  • The sexual abuse by Father Ryan took place inside Holy Cross School and included the following: Father Ryan forced the boy to remove all of the boy’s clothing. Then Father Ryan whipped the boy’s bare back and buttocks with a leather belt multiple times. After whipping the boy, Father Ryan put his hands on the boy’s body where Father Ryan had whipped him.
  • The claim settled in 2020 in the low five figures.

Father John Salvucci – Archdiocese of Boston

Partial Assignment Record:

DatesAssignment
Approx. 1977 Ordained in the Archdiocese of Boston
1978 – 1982 St. Mary’s Church, Billerica, MA
1983 – 1985 St. Charles Church, Woburn, MA
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 John Salvucci was accused of sexually abusing a male minor child on at least twenty occasions from approximately 1977 to 1979 when the male child was approximately fifteen to seventeen years old. At the time of the sexual abuse, Father Salvucci was assigned to St. Mary’s Church in Billerica, Massachusetts, and the male child was a parishioner at the church. The sexual abuse took place in the rectory near the church and in a cabin in New Hampshire.
  • The sexual abuse by Father Salvucci included the following: Father Salvucci fondled the boy’s penis and testicles, skin-on-skin, and Father Salvucci forced the boy to fondle Father Salvucci’s penis and testicles, skin-on-skin.
  • The claim settled in February 2020 in the high five figures.

Father William I. Shinnick - Archdiocese of Boston

Assignment Record:

DatesAssignment
1942 Ordained
1943 - 1945 St. Jerome's Church, Arlington, MA
1946 - 1949 St. Rose's Church, Chelsea, MA/td>
1950 - 1953 Most Precious Blood, Hyde Park, MA
1954 St. Gregory's Church, Dorchester, MA
1955 - 1958 St. John's Church, Roxbury, MA
1959 - 1960 St. Mary's Church, Charlestown, MA
1961 St. Patrick's Church (West), Lynn, MA
1962 - 1969 St. James' Church, Arlington, MA
1970 - 1981 St. Maria Goretti Church, Lynnfield Centre, MA
   Died May 10, 1981
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 William I. Shinnick was accused of sexually abusing a female minor child on approximately 60 occasions from approximately 1960 when the girl was approximately ten years old until approximately 1964 when the girl was approximately fourteen years old. During the sexual abuse, Father Shinnick was assigned to St. Mary's Church in Charlestown, MA, St. Patrick's Church (West) in Lynn, MA, and St. James' Church in Arlington, MA. The sexual abuse took place inside the girl’s childhood home.
  • The sexual abuse by Father Shinnick included the following: Father Shinnick kissing the girl on the mouth, putting his tongue in her mouth; Father Shinnick fondling the girl’s breasts, buttocks, and genitals.
  • The claim settled in 2023 in the low six figures.
  1. Father Edward Shoback – Diocese of Scranton
  2. Father David Soderlund – Diocese of Allentown
  3. Father Leonard Spanburgh – Archdiocese of Newark
  4. Father Francis Stinner – Archdiocese of New York
  5. Father John Stonebridge – Diocese of Brooklyn
  6. Father Gerard Sudol – Archdiocese of Newark
  7. Father Bernard L. Sullivan – Archdiocese of Boston
  8. Father John T. Sullivan – Diocese of Manchester, Diocese of Grand Rapids, Diocese of Gallup, Diocese of Phoenix
  9. Father T. Raymond Sullivan – Archdiocese of Boston
  10. Father Patrick J. Tague – Archdiocese of Boston
  11. Father Arthur Taraborelli – Archdiocese of Philadelphia
  12. Father Toribio Villacastin – Archdiocese of Hartford
  13. Father Robert J. Vonnahmen – Diocese of Belleville
  14. Father Michael Wempe – Archdiocese of Los Angeles
  15. Father Michael Weston – Archdiocese of Chicago
  16. Father Harold Robert White – Diocese of Denver
  17. Father Benjamin D. Wysolmerski – Diocese of Burlington
  18. Father Theodore Zabowski – Diocese of Pittsburgh