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 Joseph L. Fitzharris – Archdiocese of Chicago

Assignment Record:

DatesAssignment
1962 Ordained
1963 - 1967 St. Louis de Marillac's Church in La Grange Park, IL
1968 – 1973 St. Aloysius' Church in Chicago, IL
1974 – 1979 St. Fidelis's Church in Chicago, IL
1980 – 1986 St. Francis Xavier's Church in Chicago, IL
1987 St. Bartholomew's Church in Waukegan, IL
1988 Not Indexed
1989 St. Genevieve's Church in Chicago, IL
1990 – 1991 St. Pascal's Church in Chicago, IL
1992 – 1995 Not Indexed
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 Conran Free, C.P. - Congregation of the Passion (“Passionists”) - Diocese of Scranton

Assignment Record:

DatesAssignment
1945 Ordained
1946 St. Joseph’s Passionist Monastery, Baltimore, MD (Archdiocese of Baltimore and Washington)
1947 – 1948 St. Ann’s Passionist Monastery, Scranton, PA (Diocese of Scranton)
1949 – 1951 St. Paul’s Monastery, Pittsburgh, PA (Diocese of Pittsburgh)
1952 – 1956 “Army Chaplains” – Organized Reserve Corps, Active Duty
1957 – 1961 St. Gabriel’s Monastery, Brighton, MA (Archdiocese of Boston)
1962 St. Paul’s Monastery, Pittsburgh, PA (Diocese of Pittsburgh)
1963 – 1966 St. Michael’s Passionist Monastery, Union City, NJ (Archdiocese of Newark)
1967 – 1983 St. Ann’s Passionist Monastery, Scranton, PA (Diocese of Scranton)
1984 Our Mother of Sorrows Monastery, West Springfield, MA (Diocese of Springfield)
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 Free died in November 1983.
  • Father Conran Free, C.P., was accused of sexually abusing a male minor child on at least ten occasions from approximately 1970 to 1971 when the male child was approximately 13 to 14 years old. At the time of the sexual abuse, Father Free was assigned to St. Ann’s Passionist Monastery in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
  • The sexual abuse by Father Free included the following: Father Free exposed his penis to the boy and forced the boy to perform oral sex on Father Free. Father Free also rubbed his erect penis against the boy’s buttocks, skin-on-skin.
  • The claim settled in 2021 in the low five figures.

Father Lawrence Gadek – Archdiocese of Newark

Assignment Record:

DatesAssignment
Approx. 1955 Ordained in the Archdiocese of Newark
1956 - 1962 St. Catherine’s Church, Hillside, NJ
1963 - 1966 Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church, Jersey City, NJ
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 Lawrence Gadek was accused of sexually abusing a female minor child on approximately fifteen occasions from approximately 1960 to 1962 when the female child was approximately eleven to thirteen years old. At the time of the sexual abuse, Father Gadek was assigned to St. Catherine’s Church in Hillside, New Jersey, and the female child was a parishioner of the church. The sexual abuse took place in locations including inside St. Catherine’s Church and in the nearby rectory affiliated with the church.
  • The sexual abuse by Father Gadek included the following: Father Gadek fondled the girl’s vagina and penetrated her vagina with his fingers.
  • The claim settled in January 2020 in the mid six figures.

Father Richard M. Galdon – Archdiocese of Newark

Assignment Record:

DatesAssignment
Approx. 1959 Ordained in the Archdiocese of Newark
1960 – 1986 Our Lady of Good Counsel Church, Newark. NJ
1983 – 1986 Boy Scouts of America, Essex Council
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 Richard M. Galdon was accused of sexually abusing three male minor children. The sexual abuse took place over the period from 1969 to 1980. The boys sexually abused by Father Galdon were between nine and thirteen years old. At the time of the sexual abuse, Father Galdon was assigned to Our Lady of Good Counsel Church in Newark. The sexual abuse took place in locations including the rectory near Our Lady of Good Counsel Church; at a house in New Jersey apparently owned by Father Galdon; and on Boy Scout camping trips.
  • The sexual abuse by Father Galdon included the following: one claimant reported that Father Galdon fondled his penis and performed oral sex on him. Another claimant reported that Father Galdon performed oral sex on him; forced him to perform oral sex on Father Galdon; and sodomized him. A third claimant reported that Father Galdon performed oral sex on him; forced him to perform oral sex on Father Galdon; and sodomized him.
  • The three claims all settled in 2020 in the six figures.
  1. Father Brian Gallagher, S.S.C.
  2. Father Vincent J. Gallo – Diocese of Brooklyn
  3. Father Michael Garry – Diocese of Trenton
  4. Father James M. Gibbons - Archdiocese of Boston
  5. Father Augustine M. Giella – Diocese of Harrisburg
  6. Father Denis Ginty – Archdiocese of Los Angeles
  7. Father J. Gerard Griffin– Diocese of Trenton, Diocese of Springfield
  8. Bishop Dinualdo Gutierrez
  9. Monsignor James J. Haddad - Archdiocese of Boston
  10. Father Michael H. Hansen – Archdiocese of Newark
  11. Father Patrick J. Healy – Diocese of Erie
  12. Monsignor Herman Heide – Archdiocese of New York
  13. Father Douglas U. Hermansen – Diocese of Trenton
  14. Father Charles Herr – Archdiocese of Newark
  15. Father Donald Hickey – Diocese of Trenton
  16. Father Daniel M. Holihan – Archdiocese of Chicago
  17. Father Ernest Karl Huller – Diocese of Springfield
  18. Monsignor Thomas M. Jordan – Diocese of Scranton
  19. Father Charles Kane – Archdiocese of Boston
  20. Father Thomas C. Kelley – Diocese of Erie
  21. Monsignor Joseph P. Kelly – Diocese of Scranton
  22. Father Robert J. Klem, C.S.B. – Congregation of St. Basil, a.k.a. the Basilians, and the Diocese of Rochester
  23. Father Eugene Kwapisz, O.F.M. Conv. - Order of Minors Friar Conventual, St. Anthony of Padua Province - Diocese of Trenton
  24. Serio “Charlie” La Penna - Archdiocese of Boston
  25. Father Victor C. LaVoie - Archdiocese of Boston
  26. Father Roger R. Leblanc - Archdiocese of Boston
  27. Father Theodore F. Llanos – Archdiocese of Los Angeles
  28. Father Salvatore Luzzi – Diocese of Erie
  29. Father Gerald F. Lyons – Diocese of Trenton
  30. Father Patrick Francis Magee – Diocese of Trenton
  31. Monsignor Daniel Martin – Diocese of Erie
  32. Father George Maslar, O.M.F.Conv. (Conventual Franciscans)
  33. Father James McAuliffe – Diocese of Scranton
  34. Father Maurus McBarron, O.S.B. (Benedictines)
  35. Father Paul R. McCarthy – Archdiocese of Boston
  36. Father James McDonnell – Archdiocese of Philadelphia
  37. Father Joseph McHugh – Diocese of Trenton
  38. Father Joseph F. McGarvey – Diocese of Camden
  39. Father Francis G. McInerney - Archdiocese of Boston
  40. Father Thomas McKenna – Diocese of Pittsburgh