Explosive documents name Catholic priests and deacons charged with child abuse – WSB-TV Channel 2

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Explosive documents name Catholic priests and deacons accused of child abuse Channel 2 Action News???? spoke to a victim, who said she was abused by one of these priests when she was a teenager.

ATLANTA — The Catholic Archbishop of Atlanta has released explosive documents naming more than a dozen metro Atlanta-area priests and other clergy charged with sexually abusing minors.

Channel 2 Tom Regan went to Christ the King Cathedral in Buckhead, where three of the priests on the list once served in the archdiocese’s most important church.

Regan spoke to a victim, who said she was abused by one of these priests as a teenager in the 1970s in another parish. The victim, who did not want to be identified, said the church never took his complaint seriously.

Now, decades later, it all comes to light.

Now 59, the victim Regan spoke to said his jaw dropped when he saw the name of one of the priests on the list, which was released on Tuesday evening.

The victim said father Jacob Bollmer asked him to strip at his home in St. Joseph Village while the victim was in high school. He said he remembered Bollmer telling him to close the blinds and undress.

“He asked me to stand up in the middle of the room and pull my pants down,” the victim said. “He’s in his lounger, leaning back, and I’m standing in the middle of the room and I’m 15 and he’s like, ‘Turn around. “”

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The victim said Bollmer didn’t touch him, but was still shaken by the encounter and didn’t know what the priest was doing.

Years later, following the Boston clergy scandal, the victim reported what happened to him right here in Atlanta to the Archdiocese. The victim said the church did nothing about it.

“It honestly made me feel like they were downplaying my story,” the victim told Regan.

Archbishop Wilton Gregory released the names of Bollmer and 14 other priests, deacons and seminarians who Gregory said were “credibly accused” of sexually abusing minors. Nearly half, including Bollmer, have since died.

Others have been convicted or dismissed from their posts. No current priest is on the list.

The victim said he was glad the church acknowledged the abuse, but he thinks there are probably more cases.

“It’s a sense of justice, at least they recognize it,” the victim said. “If that’s all the abuse and cover-up cases they have, that would be great.” (But) I don’t believe it for a minute.”

In releasing the names, the Archbishop said he renewed his apologies for the damage suffered by young lives.

Some church members said it was too late. Rich Meyer, a parishioner, said the names should have been published years ago and the archdiocese here and in others across the county has repeatedly failed to protect children from abuse.

“It thinks it’s absolutely awful,” Meyer said. “And I think the church made a big mistake by not coming forward sooner to deal with this issue.”

The victim agrees.

“There was no sense of urgency to tell the truth and solve the problem,” he said. “And that makes me wonder how much more abuse there has been.”

Regan asked the Archdiocese if it knew how many children had been victimized, but got no response.

The following priests were on the list:

Jacob Bolmer

  • 1987 Catholic Charities, Atlanta
  • 1969-1987 St. Joseph Village (priest-in-residence)
  • 1968-1969 Cathedral of Christ the King

Status: Removed from ministry in 1987; died in 2000.

Sergio Mauricio Calle Perez

  • 1998-1999 St. John Neumann
  • 1998-1999 Saint Marguerite d’Youville
  • 1999 Prince of Peace

Status: Permanently removed from the ministry (Laicization) 2004.

Jorge Christancho

  • 2001 St. George (Newnan)
  • 1996-2001 Saint-Michel (Gainesville)
  • 1992-1996 Sanctuary of the Immaculate Conception
  • 1991-1997 Hispanic Liaison Staff Council
  • 1988-1992 Cathedral of Christ the King
  • 1987-1988 Authorized leave
  • 1984-1987 Saint Philip Benizi
  • 1981-1984 St. Joseph (Dalton)
  • 1978 Immaculate Heart of Mary

Status: Permanently removed from the ministry (Laicization) 2004.

John Douglas Edwards

  • 1987-1989 Saint Catherine of Siena (Kennesaw)
  • 1987 Sacred Heart of Jesus
  • 1987 Saint Pius X
  • 1986-1987 Authorized leave
  • 1981-1986 St. Thomas More
  • 1975-1981 St. Joseph
  • 1974-1975 Saint John the Evangelist
  • 1973-1974 Authorized leave
  • 1972-1973 Saint Thomas Aquinas
  • 1967-1972 Our Lady of Perpetual Help
  • 1966-1967 Saint Jude the Apostle
  • 1985-1966 Sacred Heart
  • 1963-1965 Our Lady of the Assumption
  • 1962-1963 St. Mary
  • 1961-1962 Saint Anthony of Padua
  • 1961 Cathedral of Christ the King

Status: Died in 1997.

Raymond Horan

  • 1992-1993 Most Blessed Sacrament
  • 1989-1992 Saint John the Evangelist (Hapeville)
  • 1988-1989 Saint Jude the Apostle
  • 1987 – Sabbatical
  • 1981-1987 Sts. Peter and Paul (Decatur)
  • 1977-1981 Transfiguration
  • 1974-1977 Mother of Our Divine Savior (Toccoa)
  • 1973-1974 Sacred Heart (Atlanta)
  • 1971-1973 St. Joseph (Athens)
  • 1969-1971 St. Joseph High School
  • 1968-1969 Saint Thomas More (Decatur)

Status: Removed from ministry in 1992; died in 2017.

Stanley Dominic Idziak

  • 1985-1988 Saint Michael
  • 1981-1985 Corpus Christi
  • 1978-1981 Toussaint

Status: retired from ministry in 1966, died in 2012

Leonard Frances Xavier Mayhew

  • St. Croix (Atlanta)
  • 1960 St. Anne (Monroe)
  • 1960 St. Joseph (Atlanta)
  • 1959 St. Anthony (Atlanta)
  • 1955 St. Thomas More (Decatur)

Status: Removed from ministry in 1966; died in 2012.

Clarence Biggers

  • St. Joseph’s Church (Marietta)

Status: Died in 2009.

Richard Roy Boucher

Status: Removed from ministry in 1992.

Kenneth Joseph Cassity

Status: Sentenced in 2003.

Anton Mowat

  • 1985-1987 Corpus Christi (Stone Mountain)
  • 1985 Saint Francis of Assisi (Diocese of Northhamptonshire, England)
  • Status: Removed from ministry in 1997; sentenced in 1990.

Joseph Paulantonio

Michel Kilodziej:

  • 2010-2013: St Philippe Benizi

Status: Retired from ministry 2013

Robert Poandl

  • 1981-1988 Saint Francis of Assisi (Blairsville)
  • 1981-1988 Saint Paul the Apostle (Cleveland)
  • 1979-1981 St. Luke (Dahlonega)

Status: Sentenced in 2013.

Louis P.Rogge

Status: Removed from ministry in 2002; convicted in 2007; died in 2007.

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