Clergy who sexually abused children include 16 who served in county

EVERETT — A list of Catholic clergy accused of sexually abusing children and teens includes 16 that served in Snohomish County.

The Archdiocese of Seattle released the list Friday afternoon. It includes priests who have died, been defrocked or who are living a life of “permanent prayer and penance” after they either admitted to sexually abusing children or the church found that allegations against them were credible. Permanent prayer and penance means the priests are not allowed to do public ministry anymore.

Church leaders hope sharing the list will make other victims consider reporting abuse, said Greg Magnoni, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Seattle.

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

“This action is being taken in the interest of further transparency and accountability, and to continue to encourage victims of sexual abuse by clergy to come forward,” Seattle Archbishop J. Peter Sartain wrote.

In a letter sent with the list, Sartain apologized for those the church put in a position of trust who “violated that sacred trust by abusing the vulnerable in their care.”

The church has responded to hundreds of victims of abuse, he wrote. He thanked those victims for having the courage to talk about their experiences and urged others to do the same.

The list of clergy released Friday was put together with help from the Archdiocesan Review Board and independent consultants. They worked on it for two years, Magnoni said. A hotline is set up at 800-446-7762.

“Anyone who knows of abuse or has been abused should call that number,” Magnoni said. “If they know of any instance of abuse not only by clergy but by any employee or volunteer for the church, they should call that number.”

The list goes back decades. There are 77 names on it: 46 local priests, 14 priests from other diocese who spent time in Western Washington, two deacons, one nun and 14 brothers, men who vow to serve the church but are not ordained as priests.

All of the people on the lists worked or lived in Western Washington at some point between 1923 and 2008.

The list includes the churches and schools where each person worked. However, that does not mean children were abused in every location listed, according to the Archdiocese.

Of the 16 clergy who served in Snohomish County, six had ties to Immaculate Conception church in Everett.

Former priest John Cornelius resigned in 2002 and was officially defrocked in 2004 after being accused of molesting at least a dozen teenage boys. He served at Immaculate Conception and Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Everett from 1997 to 2002. The alleged sex abuse did not occur in Everett but rather in Boise, Idaho, and in King County in the 1970s, the church said at the time.

Cornelius was transferred to Everett after an Idaho man filed a complaint against him. The congregation wasn’t told about the priest’s background and many were shocked and hurt when the allegations came to light.

Sister Dolores Crosby is the only nun on the list. She was the principal of Immaculate Conception/Our Lady of Perpetual Help School in Everett from 1992 to 1999. She also taught in Seattle and Edmonds before coming to Everett. Bing Crosby’s niece, she died in 2007.

In 2005, an Everett-born man sued the Archdiocese claiming that the Rev. Edward Boyle abused him for 11 years, starting in 1956, while Boyle was at Immaculate Conception in Everett. The victim was an altar boy there. The lawsuit was settled for $270,000. Boyle died in 1987. At the time of the lawsuit, the church said there had been past allegations against him. Boyle also served for a time at Immaculate Conception in Arlington.

In 2009, the Archdiocese paid $350,000 to a man who said he was sexually abused by former priest James Knelleken. It was the church’s second settlement for allegations against Knelleken, who was at Immaculate Conception in Everett from 1984 until he was removed from ministry in 1988 due to claims that he was abusing minors. He died in 2003.

Some priests on the list served at Providence Hospital in Everett and at the Washington State Reformatory in Monroe. Other churches and Catholic schools on the list include Holy Rosary in Edmonds, St. Mary of the Valley in Monroe, St. Mary Magdalen in Everett and St. Michael in Snohomish.

In 2006, the Archdiocese announced that the Rev. Dennis Champagne’s authority to do public ministry had been taken away by the Vatican and he was to be “a priest on prayer and penance.” He was limited to administering the sacraments only with permission from the archbishop. It was punishment for allegedly abusing an altar boy in the early 1970s. Champagne was pastor at St. Michael in Snohomish from 1979 to 1999, and had been a parish priest there since 1971.

The list will be updated if new information comes in and is vetted, Magnoni said.

Kari Bray: 425-339-3439; kbray@heraldnet.com

Those who served in county

Catholic clergy from sex abuse list who served in Snohomish County:

Barry Ashwell, defrocked, was at St. Pius X in Mountlake Terrace from 1970-71

Edward Boyle, deceased, was at Immaculate Conception in Everett from 1956-58 and Immaculate Conception in Arlington from 1958-65

Dennis Champagne, permanent prayer and penance, was at St. Michael in Snohomish from 1979-99

John Cornelius, defrocked, was at Immaculate Conception and Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Everett from 1997-2002

Jerome Dooley, deceased, was at St. Thomas More in Lynnwood from 1983-86

David Jaeger, deceased, was at Holy Rosary in Edmonds from 1968-69 and Immaculate Conception in Everett from 1972-75

James Knelleken, deceased, was at Immaculate Conception in Everett from 1984-88

Lawrence Low, deceased, was at Immaculate Conception in Arlington from 1985-86

Theodore Marmo, defrocked, was at Immaculate Conception in Everett from 1965-69

James McGreal, deceased, was at St. Mary in Monroe from 1956-66 and Providence Hospital in Everett from 1981-85

Desmond McMahon, defrocked, was at St. Mary in Monroe from 1971-73

Michael C. O’Brien, defrocked, was at St. Michael in Snohomish from 1974-79 and St. Mary of the Valley in Monroe from 1999-2008

Harold Quigg, deceased, was at St. Mary Magdalen in Everett from 1960-66

Richard Stohr, deceased, was at the Washington State Reformatory in Monroe from 1979-88

James McSorley, deceased, was at St. Thomas Center in Bothell from 1984-86

Sister Dolores Crosby, deceased, was at Holy Rosary School in Edmonds from 1973-78 and Immaculate Conception School in Everett from 1992-99

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

Vehicles travel along Mukilteo Speedway on Sunday, April 21, 2024, in Mukilteo, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Mukilteo cameras go live to curb speeding on Speedway

Starting Friday, an automated traffic camera system will cover four blocks of Mukilteo Speedway. A 30-day warning period is in place.

Carli Brockman lets her daughter Carli, 2, help push her ballot into the ballot drop box on the Snohomish County Campus on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Here’s who filed for the primary election in Snohomish County

Positions with three or more candidates will go to voters Aug. 5 to determine final contenders for the Nov. 4 general election.

Students from Explorer Middle School gather Wednesday around a makeshift memorial for Emiliano “Emi” Munoz, who died Monday, May 5, after an electric bicycle accident in south Everett. (Aspen Anderson / The Herald)
Community and classmates mourn death of 13-year-old in bicycle accident

Emiliano “Emi” Munoz died from his injuries three days after colliding with a braided cable.

Danny Burgess, left, and Sandy Weakland, right, carefully pull out benthic organisms from sediment samples on Thursday, May 1, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
‘Got Mud?’ Researchers monitor the health of the Puget Sound

For the next few weeks, the state’s marine monitoring team will collect sediment and organism samples across Puget Sound

Everett postal workers gather for a portrait to advertise the Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive on Wednesday, May 7, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Snohomish County letter carriers prepare for food drive this Saturday

The largest single-day food drive in the country comes at an uncertain time for federal food bank funding.

Everett
Everett considers ordinance to require more apprentice labor

It would require apprentices to work 15% of the total labor hours for construction or renovation on most city projects over $1 million.

Clothing Optional performs at the Fisherman's Village Music Festival on Thursday, May 15 in Everett, Washington. (Will Geschke / The Herald)
Everett gets its fill of music at Fisherman’s Village

The annual downtown music festival began Thursday and will continue until the early hours of Sunday.

Women hold a banner with pictures of victims of one of the Boeing Max 8 crashes at a hearing where Captain Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger III testified at the Rayburn House Building on June 19, 2019, in Washington, D.C. (Katherine Frey/The Washington Post)
DOJ plans to drop Boeing prosecution in 737 crashes

Families of the crash victims were stunned by the news, lawyers say.

First responders extinguish a fire on a Community Transit bus on Friday, May 16, 2025 in Snohomish, Washington (Snohomish County Fire District 4)
Community Transit bus catches fire in Snohomish

Firefighters extinguished the flames that engulfed the front of the diesel bus. Nobody was injured.

Signs hang on the outside of the Early Learning Center on the Everett Community College campus on Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021 in Everett, Wa. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Everett Community College to close Early Learning Center

The center provides early education to more than 70 children. The college had previously planned to close the school in 2021.

Northshore school board selects next superintendent

Justin Irish currently serves as superintendent of Anacortes School District. He’ll begin at Northshore on July 1.

Auston James / Village Theatre
“Jersey Boys” plays at Village Theatre in Everett through May 25.
A&E Calendar for May 15

Send calendar submissions for print and online to features@heraldnet.com. To ensure your… Continue reading

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.