Lawsuits claim priest in 'The Exorcist,' three others sexually abused McQuaid students
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Seven priests named from one school in the '60s & '70s
Steve OrrRochester Democrat and Chronicle
Three priests and a lay teacher who taught at McQuaid Jesuit High School decades ago have been accused of sexually abusing students there in newly filed lawsuits.
In a suit filed Tuesday morning, a one-time star teacher at the Brighton school, the Rev. William O'Malley, was accused of sexually abusing a student there in 1975 or 1976.
O'Malley, who left McQuaid in 1986, was well-known for his teaching and writing and for his role as a Jesuit priest in the supernatural hit film "The Exorcist."
It is the second such suit against O'Malley. The first, filed 11 months ago, accused him of sexually abusing a student at the all-boys school in 1985 and 1986.
The Rev. William O'Malley, a McQuaid Jesuit High School teacher who starred in the 1973 horror blockbuster "The Exorcist," is among those accused of sexually abusing students at the high school.
A separate lawsuit filed Monday laid new accusations against another former teacher at McQuaid — John Tobin, who has been the subject of high-profile claims of sexual abuse by a McQuaid graduate and the focus of other complaints to police.
The new lawsuit involves a different alleged victim who has not come forward until now, according to a lawyer whose firm brought the case. The suit says Tobin, who died in 2000, sexually abused the unnamed student at the Brighton high school in 1978 and 1979.
John Tobin taught at McQuaid from 1964 until he was fired in 1993. Tobin was a foreign-languages teacher and swim team coach at the school between 1964 and 1993, when he was fired for unspecified misconduct on a class trip to Europe.
One of his other students, the writer Tom Chiarella, published a lengthy article in Esquire magazine in 2003 about Tobin and his experiences at McQuaid, and has spoken several times to the Democrat and Chronicle about his time there.
The Rev. Harry Untereiner (1980)
Accused: Rochester-area priests and others named in child sex abuse complaints
That same lawsuit also accuses the Rev. Harry Untereiner of sexually abusing the student in 1980. Untereiner, who was at McQuaid for a brief period ending in 1980, had not been publicly accused of sexual abuse before now.
Rev. James Curry (1987 photo)
Officials at McQuaid and the Jesuit provincial office in New York City did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday
The lawsuits were filed in state Supreme Court in Monroe County under the auspices of the state Child Victims Act.
The act, signed into law in early 2019, opened a brief window in time during which people who believe they were the victims of sexual abuse as children to bring suit against their abuser, no matter how long ago the abuse occurred. That window of opportunity currently is set to close in January 2021, though legislation sent to Gov. Andrew Cuomo would extend the deadline to August 2021.
The two cases filed Monday against McQuaid and the Jesuit religious order were brought by Minnesota lawyer Jeffrey Anderson, who is prominent in child sexual abuse litigation. Anderson's firm filed 14 suits in all Monday against the Jesuit order and various affiliates. Two other Jesuit priests with ties to McQuaid were accused in that wave of suits.
The Rev. John L. Farrand, who taught at McQuaid in the 1950s, was accused of sexually abusing a student at Loyola high school in New York City 20 years later. The Rev. Robert Voelkle, who was at McQuaid for most of the 1960s, was accused of sexually abusing a student at Regis high school in New York in 1976.
Both Farrand and Voelkle are deceased.
A Jesuit priest who grew up in Rochester, the Rev. Peter Conroy, also was named in the Anderson lawsuits. He was accused of sexually abusing minors in New York City, Buffalo and Syracuse in the 1970s.
It was not immediately clear if the lawsuits involved accusations that have been publicly aired by female relatives of Conroy.
3 more accuse former Springfield, Mo, priest
of sexually abusing them as kids
Harrison Keegan
Springfield News-Leader
The local Catholic diocese announced three new child sex abuse allegations Monday against a former Springfield priest.
Back in April, the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau publicized that 66-year-old Gary Carr had been credibly accused of abusing a boy in southeast Missouri nearly 30 years ago when the boy was between the ages of 10 and 13.
On Monday, the diocese said it had since become aware of three more allegations of child sexual abuse involving Father Carr from the late 1980s and early 1990s. Those allegations were brought before the Diocesan Safe Environment Review Board at its June meeting, and all three met the diocese's "semblance of truth" standard.
Carr worked in Springfield in 1982 and had several other appointments in southwest Missouri during his 38-year career.
The four publicized allegations against Carr all came from men who say they were abused by Carr as children. Two of the cases are from Butler County, one is from Jasper County and another is from Stoddard County.
Thus far, none of the allegations against Carr have resulted in criminal charges. Carr, who lives in St. Louis, has been officially retired since November, but he was restricted in ministry with no priestly faculties for the last 11 years of his career.
Back in April, diocese spokeswoman Leslie Eidson said then-Bishop James Johnston placed Carr on administrative leave in 2008 for "boundary violations" and what the bishop considered imprudent behavior, but there had been no allegations of sexual abuse against Father Carr at that time.
The diocese asked anyone with information regarding inappropriate behavior by Carr or any priest to contact law enforcement and the Diocesan Office of Child and Youth Protection at 417-866-0841 or by email at childandyouthprotection@dioscg.org. There is also a TIPS portal on the diocese's website, dioscg.org.
The diocese provided this list of Carr's pastoral appointments:
1981 — Deacon, St. Mary Parish, Joplin, MO
December, 1982 — Associate Pastor, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish, Springfield, MO
December, 1983 — Leave of Absence, reasons of health
August, 1985 — Part-time Associate Pastor, St. Mary Parish, Joplin, MO; Full-time Teacher, Joplin Area Catholic Schools
February, 1987 — Associate Pastor, Sacred Heart Parish, Webb City, MO; Full-time Teacher, St. Peter Middle School, Joplin
August, 1987 — Pastor, St. Joseph Parish, Advance, MO; St. Anthony Mission Church, Glennon, MO
August, 1988 — Leave of Absence, reasons of health
August, 1989 — Pastor, St. Teresa Parish, Glennonville, MO; St. Ann Parish, Malden, MO
June, 1990 — Leave of Absence, reasons of health
August, 1991 — Priest in Residence, Sacred Heart Parish, Poplar Bluff, MO; Full-time Teacher, Sacred Heart Catholic School, Poplar Bluff
August, 1993 — Priest in Residence and Director of Religious Education (DRE), St. Henry Parish, Charleston, MO; Principal, St. Henry Catholic School, Charleston
August, 1996 — Pastor, St. Mark Parish, Houston, MO; St. John the Baptist Mission Church, Licking, MO; St. Vincent de Paul Mission Church, Roby, MO
August, 1997 — Principal, Holy Name Catholic School, Ketchikan, Alaska
August, 1999 — Pastor, St. Mary Parish, West Plains, MO; Sacred Heart Mission Church, Thayer, MO; Principal, of St. Mary Catholic School, West Plains
August, 2001 — Pastor, St. Joseph Parish, Billings, MO; Principal, St. Lawrence Catholic School, Monett, MO
August, 2004 — Leave of Absence, reasons of health, resided in Springfield
August, 2005 — Health leave, Flagstaff, AZ; Sacramental Assistance within Diocese of Phoenix
August, 2006 — Health leave, Floyd, NM; Sacramental Assistance within Archdiocese of Santa Fe
July, 2008 — Pastoral work/Supply priest at the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, St. Francis de Sales Oratory, St. Louis, MO: Traditional Latin Mass (Extraordinary Form) and sacraments
December, 2008 — Restricted in Ministry, no priestly faculties
November, 2019 — Retired.
Paedophile priest Vince Ryan to walk free
from Sydney Prison on Tuesday
By Mark Reddie ABC-Au
Notorious paedophile priest Vince Ryan will walk free from jail tomorrow after serving less than half of a three-year sentence for the historic sexual abuse of two altar boys.
The 82-year-old was granted parole last week after a pre-release report stated "the offender has demonstrated excellent prison performance" and a sentencing judge found the offender has "positive prospects of rehabilitation" upon his release from Sydney's Long Bay Prison.
Scott Hallett and Gerard McDonald gave evidence before Newcastle Court in 2016, in which they described how Ryan gave them wine as nine-year-old altar boys before subjecting them to horrific sexual abuse in the 1970s and 1980s in the NSW Hunter region.
Mr Hallett, 55, described being "overcome with anger" when he found out about Ryan's upcoming release while holidaying with his wife and three children at Surfers Paradise.
"He is just an evil man, very calculating — I don't think the guy even thinks he's done anything wrong by pure fact that he is still able to be called a priest," he said.
"I mean he has been convicted of that many crimes."
Victim Scott Hallett says Ryan is "very calculating".(ABC News: Steve Keen)
Ryan previously spent 14 years in prison for sexually abusing more than 30 boys between 1973 and 1991 — and has never apologised to any of his victims.
"When you look at all the victims, plenty has changed for us — we don't get to walk around like a normal person day today and he's just going to come out and think he's done nothing wrong and back to being a priest," Mr Hallett said.
Has he admitted his crimes? Has he felt any contrition for his crimes? Has the parol board considered that in the determination to unleash him onto society again?
Newcastle Bishop Bill Wright declined an interview with the ABC, but in a statement, said he had twice written to the Pope informing him about Ryan's criminal history.
"As part of these submissions the Bishop has offered his opinion to the Pope, as to what should occur with Ryan's priesthood," the statement said. "He will not make any comment on these submissions as he will not risk appearing to attempt publicly influencing the Holy See."
What the statement doesn't answer is whether Bishop Wright has asked Rome to strip Ryan of his priesthood — something Mr Hallett and other survivors would like to see happen. "It's all about protecting the church — never admitting that they did anything wrong and to get anything out of them you virtually have to beat them with a stick," Mr Hallett said.
Vincent Ryan stands in a church in Rome in 1966.(Revelation/In Films)
Here, we see Ryan conducting communion. How would you like to have communion with a paedophile?
Former Detective Chief Inspector Peter Fox, who previously investigated Ryan and campaigned for a Royal Commission into clergy abuse, believes Ryan should remain locked up.
"I think Vince Ryan will always pose a risk — he is a convicted paedophile, he's abused dozens of young boys and sadly he will always be a paedophile and a risk to the community," he said.
"He's very at ease talking about his offences and I suppose that rings alarm bells for me."
Mr Fox is calling on Pope Francis to make a rule that all priests are stripped of their priesthood if found guilty of "heinous crimes" similar to those committed by Vince Ryan.
"I think the church is failing his victims if it doesn't take action and say, 'Hang on, we are also going to punish him for the crimes committed against you'," he said.
"The church has argued in the past by leaving them as a priest it gives them greater control over that individual once they are released — but didn't they have that control before they committed their crimes?"
As part of his parole conditions, Ryan must stay away from his victims and not go anywhere near children, while wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet 24 hours a day.
"Parole supervision includes face-to-face meetings and appointments with Community Corrections officers, verification checks, home visits and regular contact with NSW Police," a Corrective Services spokeswoman said.
As a frail Ryan prepares to leave his cell on Tuesday, Mr Hallett is encouraging any other potential victims of clergy abuse to contact police.
"Come and tell your story — apart from taking a weight off your shoulders, you can't let these people get away with it," he said.
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