Fr. Donald Dickerson

Diocese of Shreveport

Ordained: 1980

Removed: 1986

Died: 2018

Assigned as Follows:

1970's: Jesuit High School (New Orleans, LA)
1980-1981: Jesuit College Prep (Dallas, TX)
1981-1984: St. John Berchmans Co-Cathedral (Shreveport, LA)
1984-1985: Not indexed in the Catholic Directory
1985-1988: Loyola University (New Orleans, LA)

Summary of Sexual Abuse Allegations against Fr. Donald Dickerson:

Fr. Donald Dickerson was ordained a Jesuit priest of the New Orleans Province in 1980, who worked in high schools throughout New Orleans and Dallas and served in the Diocese of Shreveport. He was reportedly accused in a lawsuit that was settled in 2009 of the sexual abuse of boys at Jesuit High School in New Orleans during the 1970's. Dickerson was a seminarian at the time of the alleged abuse and had not yet been ordained. He was officially removed from ministry and forced to leave the Jesuit order in 1986.

According to media reports, in November 2010, Fr. Dickerson was accused again in a federal lawsuit of sexual abuse of a boy. This suit included allegations including rape in 1982 when Fr. Dickerson was assigned to St. John Berchmans in Shreveport. He also worked at the Jesuit Prep School in Dallas at the time.

His name has been included on the Central and Southern Province Jesuit list of credibly accused clergy members as of December 2018.

In 2018, the Diocese of Shreveport listed Fr. Dickerson on its list of credibly accused clergy under the heading, "release of names of Jesuits removed for sexual abuse of minors: priests who served in the Diocese of Shreveport."

In March 2019, an accuser filed a lawsuit against the Jesuits and the Diocese of Dallas. The man alleged that he was raped by Fr. Dickerson at the end of his freshman year at Jesuit College Prep after the priest supplied him with alcohol. Six more accusers joined this suit in 2020 alleging sexual abuse by Fr. Dickerson and other Jesuit College Prep priests. Dickerson was one of 11 men who previously worked at Jesuit Dallas included on a list released by the Jesuits in December of clergy members "credibly accused" of sexual abuse of a minor.

Donald Dickerson died in 2018.

Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims and survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and other clergy in the Diocese of Shreveport in Louisiana. If you need a lawyer because you were sexually abused by a priest in Louisiana, contact our office today. Although many years have passed, those abused by Catholic clergy in the Diocese of Shreveport may now have legal options, but filing deadlines will apply so do not delay in reaching out to us. Our lawyers have decades of experience representing survivors of clergy sexual abuse in Louisiana and nationwide. We can help.

Fr. Donald Dickerson – Diocese of Shreveport