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 James F. Buckley – Diocese of Fall River

Assignment Record:

DatesAssignment
1960-1962 Cathedral of St. Mary’s of the Assumption Church, Fall River, MA
1963 Sacred Heart Church, Fall River, MA
1964-1966 Immaculate Conception Church, North Easton, MA
1967-1976 St. Joan of Arc Church, Orleans, MA
1977-1981 St. Augustine Church, Vineyard Haven, MA
1982-1988 St. Margaret’s Church, Buzzards Bay, MA
1989-2001 Holy Redeemer Church, Chatham, MA
Source:
  • The Official Catholic Directory, Kenedy & Sons
Summary:
  • Father James F. Buckley was accused of sexually abusing two female minor children; one girl was sexually abused on at least twenty-five occasions from 1967 when she was approximately six years old until approximately 1971 when she was approximately ten years old; and another girl was sexually abused on at least twenty occasions from approximately 1966 when she was approximately ten years old until approximately 1973 when she was approximately seventeen years old. At the time of both claims of sexual abuse, Father Buckley was assigned to St. Joan of Arc Church in Orleans, MA and the two girls belonged to St. Joan of Arc Parish. The sexual abuse took place at St. Joan of Arc School and at each girl’s home.
  • The sexual abuse by Father Buckley included the following: Father Buckley spanked the girls on their buttocks.
  • The claim settled in August 2023 in the five figures.

Father Leo Bujnowski – Diocese of San Angelo

Assignment Record:

YearsAssignment
Approx. 1993 Ordained in the Archdiocese of San Antonio
1935 St. Alphonsus Church, San Antonio, TX (as “L.C. Bujnowski”);
1936 – 1943 St. Mary’s Church, Lockhart, TX (as “L.J. Bujnowski”)
1944 Blessed Sacrament Church, Poth, TX
1945 St. Patrick’s Church, Lulling, TX
1946 Begins serving in the Diocese of Austin
1946 – 1950 St. John the Evangelist Church, Lulling, TX
1951 – 1962 St. Mary’s Church, Brownwood, TX
1963 Begins serving in the Diocese of San Angelo
1963 – 1969 Sacred Heart Church, Coleman, TX
1963 – 1974 “Diocesan Consultors” (as “Very Rev. Leo Bujnowski”)
1964 – 1967 “Commission of Liturgy, Sacred Music, and Art” (as “Very Rev. Leo Bujnowski”)
1966 “Administrator” (as “Very Rev. Leopold J. Bujnowski”)
1966 – 1970 “Priests’ Mutual Aid Society” (as “Very Rev. Leopold J. Bujnowski”)
1970 – 1971 “Absent on Leave” (listed as living in Spring Branch, Texas)
1972 – 1976 “Retired or Absent on Leave”
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.)

  • NOTE:  The Diocese of San Angelo was formed in 1961.
Summary:
  • Father Bujnowski died in 1976.
  • Father Leo Bujnowski was accused of sexually abusing a male minor child on at least five occasions from approximately 1966 to 1967 when the boy was approximately 9 to 10 years old. At the time of the sexual abuse, Father Bujnowski was assigned to Sacred Heart Church in Coleman, Texas. The sexual abuse took place inside Sacred Heart Church and inside the boy’s family home in Coleman, Texas. The sexual abuse included Father Bujnowski fondling and stroking the boy’s penis, skin-on-skin.
  • The claim settled in 2020 in the low five figures.

Father Leo Burchianti – Diocese of Pittsburgh

Assignment Record:

DatesAssignment
Approx. 1964 Ordained in the Diocese of Pittsburgh
1964 – 1966 St. Joseph Church, Natrona, PA
1966 – 1968 Immaculate Conception Church, Bloomfield, PA
1968 – 1973 Our Lady of Grace Church, Scott Township, PA
1973 – 1979 St. James Church, Sewickley, PA
1979 – 1980 St. Philip Neri Church, Donora, PA
1980 – 1981 Leave of Absence
1981 St. Rosalia Church, Greenfield, PA
1981 – 1993 St. Joseph Church, West Aliquippa, 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 Burchianti is not indexed in the 1994 or 1995 Official Catholic Directory. From 1996 to 2007, Father Burchianti is indexed in the Directory at St. John Vianney Manor in Pittsburgh. According to the Grand Jury report, Father Burchianti “withdrew from ministry” in 2003.

Summary:
  • Father Leo Burchianti was accused of sexually abusing a male minor child on two occasions in approximately 1975 when the male child was approximately fourteen years old. At the time of the sexual abuse, Father Burchianti was assigned to St. James Church in Sewickley, Pennsylvania. The boy was not a parishioner of St. James Church. Father Burchianti met the boy at a restaurant and asked the boy to come to Father Burchianti’s residence at the rectory near St. James Church.
  • The sexual abuse by Father Burchianti included the following: Father Burchianti fondled the boy’s penis and testicles; Father Burchianti provided the boy with alcohol to drink; and Father Burchianti sodomized the boy.
  • The claim settled in April 2020 in the low five figures.

Father Edward J. Byington – Diocese of Fall River

Assignment Record:

DatesAssignment
1971-1972 St. John the Evangelist’s Church, Attleboro, MA
1973-1975  Sacred Heart Church, Taunton, MA
1976  St. Patrick’s Church, Fall River, MA
1977-1982 St. Paul’s Church, Taunton, MA (Diocese of Fall River)
1983-1984 St. George’s Church, Westport, MA (Diocese of Fall River)
1985-1986 Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church, Seekonk, MA (Diocese of Fall River)
1987-1994 In res. – Sacred Heart Church, Fall River, MA (Diocese of Fall River)
1995  Sacred Heart Church, Fall River, MA
1996-2000 St. Francis Xavier’s Church, Hyannis, MA (Diocese of Fall River)
2001-2004 St. Thomas More Church, Somerset, MA
2005 Unlisted in Directory
2006  St. Thomas More Church, Somerset, MA
2007-2009  Retired
2010-2015  St. Augustine Church, Providence, RI; Retired
2016-2021  Retired, P.O. Box 571, Taunton, MA 02780
Source:
  • The Official Catholic Directory, Kenedy & Sons
Summary:
  • Father Edward J. Byington was accused of sexually abusing a male minor child on at least two occasions in approximately 1971 when the male child was approximately seventeen years old.The sexual abuse took place inside the rectory of Sacred Heart Church in Taunton, Massachusetts.
  • The sexual abuse by Father Byington included the following: Father Byington sodomized the boy.
  • The claim settled in May 2022 in the mid-to-high five figures.
  1. Father Gerard Chasse – Diocese of Rockville Centre
  2. Father Anthony Cipolla – Diocese of Pittsburgh
  3. Father George H. Clements – Archdiocese of Chicago
  4. Father James H. Coffey - Archdiocese of Boston
  5. Father James Collins – Diocese of Fresno (formerly known as the Diocese of Monterey-Fresno)
  6. Father Charles G. Collins – Diocese of Rockville Centre
  7. Father Denis A. Conte -Archdiocese of Boston
  8. Brother Edward C. Courtney – C.F.C.
  9. Father John H. Curley – Archdiocese of Boston
  10. Father Thomas J. Crum – Diocese of Youngstown
  11. Father Alphonse Dallinger – Diocese of Brooklyn
  12. Father Arthur Devlin, S.M. – Marist Fathers of Boston, a/k/a Society of Mary of the U.S.A.
  13. Father Leon Dicks, O.F.M.Conv. - Diocese of Trenton - Conventual Franciscans, Province of the Immaculate Conception
  14. Father Lawrence W. Donovan – Diocese of Trenton
  15. Father Robert Dunphy – Diocese of Camden
  16. Deacon William Emerson – Archdiocese of Boston
  17. Father Robert D. Fay - Archdiocese of Boston
  18. Monsignor J. Francis Feenan – Diocese of Paterson
  19. Father Romano J. Ferraro – Diocese of Brooklyn, Diocese of Methuen
  20. Father Merle Fisher - Marist Fathers
  21. Father Joseph L. Fitzharris – Archdiocese of Chicago
  22. Father Conran Free, C.P. - Congregation of the Passion (“Passionists”) - Diocese of Scranton
  23. Father Lawrence Gadek – Archdiocese of Newark
  24. Father Richard M. Galdon – Archdiocese of Newark
  25. Father Brian Gallagher, S.S.C.
  26. Father Vincent J. Gallo – Diocese of Brooklyn
  27. Father Michael Garry – Diocese of Trenton
  28. Father James M. Gibbons - Archdiocese of Boston
  29. Father Augustine M. Giella – Diocese of Harrisburg
  30. Father Denis Ginty – Archdiocese of Los Angeles
  31. Father J. Gerard Griffin– Diocese of Trenton, Diocese of Springfield
  32. Bishop Dinualdo Gutierrez
  33. Monsignor James J. Haddad - Archdiocese of Boston
  34. Father Michael H. Hansen – Archdiocese of Newark
  35. Father Patrick J. Healy – Diocese of Erie
  36. Monsignor Herman Heide – Archdiocese of New York
  37. Father Douglas U. Hermansen – Diocese of Trenton
  38. Father Charles Herr – Archdiocese of Newark
  39. Father Donald Hickey – Diocese of Trenton
  40. Father Daniel M. Holihan – Archdiocese of Chicago