Category:Nebraska Dioceses
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Nebraska Dioceses General
Father Flanagan’s Boys Town (Boys Town; Father Flanagan's Girls and Boys Town) Home for troubled and handicapped youth near Omaha, Nebraska. Rev. James F. Kelly (1923-) was chaplain, 1975-1983, where he was accused, along with family counselor Michael Wolf, of sexual abuse, 1978-79.
- Rivers accusation Lance Rivers, a former Boys Town resident, claims that he was abused multiple times by a counselor from 1981 to 1983, lawsuit filed in federal court 24 April 2003. Five other men have made sex abuse allegations against Kelly and Wolf, but none sued.
- See also Kelly affair
- Wolf affair Michael Wolf (d. 1990), a counselor at Boys Town 1969-1983, sued for alleged abuse at Boys Town 2003.
- Sturzenegger accusation County jury deliberated for just over an hour after a two-week trial before ruling against 23-year-old John Sturzenegger who claimed he was sexually abused by Glenn Moore in 1997 while a 14-year-old resident of Boys Town. He had sought up to $1 million dollars in damages.
Note Boys Town, the home for wayward youths made famous in a 1938 Spencer Tracy film.
(alphabetical listing)
Colbert affair Rev. Richard Colbert of the Diocese of Jefferson City served from 1977-1979 in Sedalia, from 1988-1992 in Pilot Grove and from 1993-1995 at St. Joseph Cathedral in Jefferson City before being assigned to a Fayette parish in 1995 and St. Anne's parish in Warsaw, Mo. in 1999. Darren Boudreau (1971-) claims in the lawsuit that he was “emotionally and mentally scarred for life” because of the alleged abuse by the Rev. Richard Colbert from approximately 1985 to 1989 at Father Flanagan's Girls and Boys Town in Omaha, Nebraska. Although Boudreau is the only defendant, the lawsuit claims Colbert also molested other unnamed students. SNAP said Colbert also had worked at the Society of the Precious Blood seminary in Liberty, as well as in Linton, ND, and Collegeville, Minn., in the 1970s before going to Nebraska City, Neb., and then to Omaha in the early 1980s.
Archdiocese of Omaha
Archdiocese of Omaha abuse Four priests had been accused of sexual abuse up to January 2003. Six former altar boys are suing the archdiocese, two of those suits have been settled and four others are not expected to go to trial until later in 2002.
Archdiocese of Omaha cover-up Archbishop Curtiss admitted that he removed letters documenting abuse by Rev. Wilson Smart from the file, and acknowledged his “shortsightedness and misjudgment.” Curtiss admitted negligent supervision of Rev. Daniel Herek. In mid-May 2002, the chief prosecutor in Madison County, NE, said Archbishop Curtiss could face witness-tampering charges because he sought the resignation of a Catholic schoolteacher who had told police that the Rev. Robert Allgaier (Allgaier case) viewed child pornography at work. The district attorney has since said he would not charge the archbishop. Teacher Linda Hammond said the archbishop told her, in the presence of others, “You shouldn't have done this. We had it handled. You ruined a man's life.” Archbishop Curtiss has said he was not trying to sway testimony. He has said that the priest was not accused of abusing children and was deemed by experts not to be attracted to them.
(alphabetical listing)
[4 offenders identified, 10 listed]
Allgaier case Rev. Robert Allgaier, who spent hours on a computer viewing child pornography, having been reported by two parishioners who were admonished by Archbishop Elden Curtiss. After being caught, the Omaha archdiocese never notified police, instead, they transferred him to another parish where he was a middle-school teacher. Allgaier was arrested after police received a tip from a concerned teacher, February 2002, convicted of a misdemeanor 2003.
- Concerned teacher Norfolk Sacred Heart Elementary School teacher Linda Hammond was asked by Archbishop Elden Curtiss that she resign from her teaching job before she gave a deposition in the Allgaier case. Madison County Attorney Joe Smith considered whether to charge Omaha Archbishop Elden Curtiss with witness-tampering.
Henry affair Rev. Patrick Henry (1942-) worked at the Scared Heart Parish in Norfolk, Nebraska in the fall of 1980. He was an associate pastor at St. Columbkille Parish in Papillion from 1981-84. He served as Pastor for the Saint Michael Parish in South Sioux City, Nebraska until 1994. He had been serving as pastor of St. Christine Parish in Euclid, Ohio, until June 2007, when he was placed on administrative leave because of a complaint filed with the Archdiocese of Omaha. Henry once worked in Nebraska is under investigation for alleged sexual misconduct before he was ordained, accused of “sexual misconduct with a minor” in the mid-1970s.
Herek case Rev. Daniel Herek convicted of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old altar boy, and manufacturing child pornography while he was pastor at St. Richard's Catholic Church, 1998. Herek served 2 1/2 years in prison before being released to a state mental health facility. Archdiocese of Omaha admitted negligent supervision and two civil lawsuits decided the extent of damages.
- Herek indecent exposure case Police cited Herek for indecent exposure and lewd conduct after a witness told them she saw Herek masturbated himself while in an Omaha mall parking lot, having recognized Herek's picture and car from the state's sex offender registry list, September 2005. Herek was sentenced to 120 days in jail.
Kruse case Rev. Jay L. Kruse (1954-) pastor of St. Wenceslaus Parish, Verdigre, with the mission of St. William, Niobrara June 2002 to June 2004, transferred to be pastor of St. Patrick Parish, O’Neill, with the mission of St. Joseph, Amelia; and president of O’Neill Catholic Schools, effective June 2004, was charged with charged with two counts of Possession of Visual Depiction of Sexually Explicit Conduct, a Class IV felony, but pleaded guilty in Knox County District Court to one count of Attempted Possession of Visual Depiction of Sexually Explicit Content, a Class I misdemeanor, received one year of probation as part of a plea agreement December 2004.
Lucas affair Rev. Duane Lucas (deceased) is accused of sexually molesting at least two boys in the 1970s and the archdiocese ignored reports that he was having improper contact with children.
- Claar accusation Cary Claar filed lawsuit in US District Court that contends the Archdiocese of Omaha allowed him to be abused for several years starting around 1978, when Claar was 12 or 13 years old, April 2007. US District Court Judge Joseph Bataillon dismissed the lawsuit, saying among other things that Claar failed to bring his claims within the statute of limitations, 9 June 2008.
- Johnson accusation Nick Johnson contends the Archdiocese of Omaha allowed him to be abused in the late 1970s into the 1980s, January 2008.
Sellentin case Rev. Thomas Sellentin sexually abused boys at St. Joan of Arc Church in Omaha and at parishes in West Point, Lindsay and Fullerton, c. 1980. Archbishop Daniel Sheehan (d. 2000) transferred Sellentin from parish to parish even after being told that he was sexually abusing children. Sellentin was dismissed as a pastor and allowed to retire early following accusations that he sexually abused boys at four parishes more than 30 years earlier. The claims were too old to be prosecuted in criminal court. No civil lawsuits were filed. A spokesman said the archbishop learned of that abuse only recently, though another priest and a former state Supreme Court judge said it was documented decades earlier. Removed from his post 7 April 2002.
Smart affair In the late 1970s, as leader of the Diocese of Helena, MT, Bishop Curtiss reassigned the Rev. Wilson Smart despite pedophilia allegations that had first emerged in 1959; the bishop later said he had failed to examine the priest's personnel file. In 1993, Bishop Curtiss admitted that he later removed letters documenting abuse from the file, acknowledged “shortsightedness and misjudgment.”
Starostka affair Rev. John Starostka accused of abuse, removed.
Whiteing case Rev. Richard Whiteing arrested 1999 for soliciting a police officer.
Diocese of Grand Island
Diocese of Grand Island No reported cases of child sexual abuse, National Audit February 2004.
Diocese of Lincoln
Diocese of Lincoln No information.
- Out of compliance Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz of Lincoln does not require background checks of all current employees and volunteers who have regular contact with children. Nor will Bruskewitz let his diocese participate in a study designed to tally every priestly abuse case in the country since 1950. For these actions, Bruskewitz' diocese was declared out of compliance with the sex abuse policy that American bishops approved overwhelmingly in 2002.
(alphabetical listing)
[NK offenders identified, 2 listed]
Margand case Rev. Paul Margand, a priest for only two years, serving only one parish, St. Teresa in Lincoln. The fear and anger he sowed in molesting boys during that time endure to this day: Rob Butler still has difficulty speaking about his weekly abuse by Margand. Convicted of abuse, sentenced to 3 years jail.
Murray affair Monsignor Jerome C. Murray was accused of molesting two boys in the 1970s, asked a federal judge to dismiss the charges against him in one of the cases, arguing that the statute of limitations had run out, among other things.
- Goodman accusation Robert P. Goodman accused Jerome C. Murray of sexual abuse at St. Joseph Catholic Church and Grade School in York in 1973-4.
- Pfeifer accusation Randy Pfeifer alleges in a lawsuit that Murray physically and sexually molested him at St. Joseph's, 1974-76.
Note Nebraska law says sex abuse lawsuits must be filed within one year of the event or within a year after the victim turns 21.
