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 Anthony Cipolla – Diocese of Pittsburgh

Assignment Record:

DatesAssignment
Approx. 1972 Ordained in the Diocese of Pittsburgh
1972 – 1974 St. Bernard Church, Mt. Lebanon, PA
1974 – 1975 Immaculate Conception Church, Washington, PA
1975 St. Philomena Church, Beaver Falls, PA
1975 – 1976 St. Agatha Church, Bridgeville, PA
1976 – 1978 St. Francis Xavier Church, Pittsburgh, PA
1978 – 1983 St. Canice Church, Knoxville, PA
1983 St. Philip Church, Crafton, PA
1983 – 1988 McGuire Memorial Home for Exceptional Children (chaplain), New Brighton, PA
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

Father Cipolla is not indexed in the Official Catholic Directory after 1988. According to the Grand Jury report, Father Cipolla was laicized in 2002.

Summary:
  • Father Anthony Cipolla was accused of sexually abusing two male minor children in approximately 1977 and 1978. One boy was approximately twelve years old at the time of the abuse, and the other boy was approximately nine years old. At the time of the sexual abuse, Father Cipolla was assigned to St. Francis Xavier Church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and the boys were parishioners of the church. The sexual abuse took place in locations including the rectory affiliated with St. Francis Xavier Church.
  • The sexual abuse by Father Cipolla included the following: under the guise of giving the boys “physical examinations,” Father Cipolla fondled the boys’ genitals, skin-on-skin, and inserted his finger into their anuses.
  • The claims both settled in 2020 in the low six figures.

Father George H. Clements – Archdiocese of Chicago

Assignment Record:

DatesAssignment
1957 Ordained
1958 – 1962 St. Ambrose's Church in Chicago, IL
1963 – 1969 St. Dorothy's Church in Chicago, IL
1970 – 1991 Holy Angels Church in Chicago, IL
1992 – 1993 On Duty Outside the Archdiocese in the Diocese of Nassau, Bahamas
1994 – 1995 In residence, St. Sabina's Church in Chicago, IL
1996 Not Indexed
1997 – 2006 On Duty Outside the Archdiocese
2007 – 2019 Retired
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 Clements died in November, 2019.

Father James H. Coffey - Archdiocese of Boston

Assignment Record:

DatesAssignment
1945 Ordained
1946-1949 Sacred Heart Church, Lynn. MA
1950-1952 St. Joseph’s Church, Amesbury, MA
1953-1957 St Mary's Church, Wrentham, MA
1958-1961 St. Theresa's Church, Billerica, MA
1962-1965 Sacred Heart Church, Medford, MA
1966-1970 St. Aidan’s Church, Brookline, MA
1971-1987 St. Mary’s Church, Wrentham, MA
1988-1990 Our Lady of the Rosary Church, Stoughton, MA
1991-1999 St. Aidan’s Church, Brookline, MA
2000-2003 Indexed as a Senior Priest and Reverend Father in the Archdiocese of Boston (no church assignment is given)
2004 Retired
2005 Died August 4, 2004
Source:
  • The Official Catholic Directory, Kenedy & Sons
Summary:
  • Father James H. Coffey was accused of sexually abusing a male minor child on at least three occasions in approximately 1949 when the male child was approximately ten years old. At the time of the sexual abuse, Father Coffey was assigned to Sacred Heart Church in Lynn, Massachusetts and the male child belonged to Sacred Heart Parish. The sexual abuse took place inside Father Coffey’s Jeep in or around the Lynn Woods Reservation in Lynn, MA.
  • The sexual abuse by Father Coffey included the following: Father Coffey fondled the boy’s penis and testicles skin on skin and Father Coffey performed oral sex on the boy.
  • The claim settled in June 2023 in the high five figures.

Father James Collins – Diocese of Fresno (formerly known as the Diocese of Monterey-Fresno)

Assignment Record:

DatesAssignment
1948 – 1949 St. Peter’s Church, Lemoore, CA (Diocese of Monterey-Fresno)
1950 Not indexed
1951 – 1952 St. Joseph’s Church, Avenal, CA (Diocese of Monterey-Fresno)
1953 – 1969 St. Mary’s Church, Buttonwillow, CA (Diocese of Monterey-Fresno)
1970 – 1971 Retired - Residing in Merced, CA
1972 – 1977 Retired - Residing in Donegal, Ireland
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 Collins died in 1977.
  • Father James Collins was accused of sexually abusing a female minor child on at least nine occasions from approximately 1958 to 1960 when the girl was approximately 8 to 10 years old. At the time of the sexual abuse, Father Collins was assigned to St. Mary’s Church in
    Buttonwillow, California. The sexual abuse occurred in multiple locations including inside St. Mary’s Church and in the rectory affiliated with St. Mary’s Church.
  • The sexual abuse by Father Collins included the following: Father Collins penetrated the girl’s vagina with his finger; Father Collins performed oral sex on the girl; and Father Collins forced the girl to touch Father Collins’ exposed penis with her hand.
  • The claim settled in 2020 in the low six figures.
  1. Father Charles G. Collins – Diocese of Rockville Centre
  2. Father Denis A. Conte -Archdiocese of Boston
  3. Brother Edward C. Courtney – C.F.C.
  4. Father John H. Curley – Archdiocese of Boston
  5. Father Thomas J. Crum – Diocese of Youngstown
  6. Father Alphonse Dallinger – Diocese of Brooklyn
  7. Father Arthur Devlin, S.M. – Marist Fathers of Boston, a/k/a Society of Mary of the U.S.A.
  8. Father Leon Dicks, O.F.M.Conv. - Diocese of Trenton - Conventual Franciscans, Province of the Immaculate Conception
  9. Father Lawrence W. Donovan – Diocese of Trenton
  10. Father Robert Dunphy – Diocese of Camden
  11. Deacon William Emerson – Archdiocese of Boston
  12. Father Robert D. Fay - Archdiocese of Boston
  13. Monsignor J. Francis Feenan – Diocese of Paterson
  14. Father Romano J. Ferraro – Diocese of Brooklyn, Diocese of Methuen
  15. Father Merle Fisher - Marist Fathers
  16. Father Joseph L. Fitzharris – Archdiocese of Chicago
  17. Father Conran Free, C.P. - Congregation of the Passion (“Passionists”) - Diocese of Scranton
  18. Father Lawrence Gadek – Archdiocese of Newark
  19. Father Richard M. Galdon – Archdiocese of Newark
  20. Father Brian Gallagher, S.S.C.
  21. Father Vincent J. Gallo – Diocese of Brooklyn
  22. Father Michael Garry – Diocese of Trenton
  23. Father James M. Gibbons - Archdiocese of Boston
  24. Father Augustine M. Giella – Diocese of Harrisburg
  25. Father Denis Ginty – Archdiocese of Los Angeles
  26. Father J. Gerard Griffin– Diocese of Trenton, Diocese of Springfield
  27. Bishop Dinualdo Gutierrez
  28. Monsignor James J. Haddad - Archdiocese of Boston
  29. Father Michael H. Hansen – Archdiocese of Newark
  30. Father Patrick J. Healy – Diocese of Erie
  31. Monsignor Herman Heide – Archdiocese of New York
  32. Father Douglas U. Hermansen – Diocese of Trenton
  33. Father Charles Herr – Archdiocese of Newark
  34. Father Donald Hickey – Diocese of Trenton
  35. Father Daniel M. Holihan – Archdiocese of Chicago
  36. Father Ernest Karl Huller – Diocese of Springfield
  37. Monsignor Thomas M. Jordan – Diocese of Scranton
  38. Father Charles Kane – Archdiocese of Boston
  39. Father Thomas C. Kelley – Diocese of Erie
  40. Monsignor Joseph P. Kelly – Diocese of Scranton