Fr. Donald Dorsey
Diocese of Scranton
Ordained: 1955
Inpatient Evaluation: 1959, 1960
Faculties Withdrawn: 1964
Resigned: 1975
Died: 2007
Assigned as follows:
- 1955: St. Ann (Shohola, PA)
- 1955-1959: St. Leo (Ashley, PA)
- 1959: Faculties Withdrawn
- 1959-1960: St. Ann (Shohola, PA)
- 1960: Leave of Absence
Summary of Sexual Abuse Allegations against Fr. Donald Dorsey:
Fr. Donald Dorsey was ordained a priest in 1955 who served in multiple parishes in the Diocese of Scranton. According to media reports, in 1959, the Diocese received two allegations that Fr. Dorsey was acting in inappropriate ways. In 2018, he was first named publicly as accused in the PA Grand Jury Report. The first complaint alleged that Dorsey was acting inappropriately with a high school girl. The second complaint alleged that he was "too close with" the females in town.
In response, the Bishop of Scranton withdrew Dorsey's faculties and sent him for a retreat at a hospice center. He also ordered Dorsey never to enter any home where a female was living, or to have any communications with any women, who resided in Ashley, Pennsylvania. This was, of course, a highly unusual restriction on a priest and suggests that being "too close with" females was a code word for sexual contact.
Dorsey's faculties were reinstated when he was assigned to St. Ann parish. With the appointment came a restriction that Dorsey never visit any homes in Ashley or Wilkes-Barre, where he had previously been assigned.
In 1964, Dorsey's faculties were again revoked, but the grand jury report is not clear as to the reason why. When he sought ministry outside of the Diocese of Scranton, Bishop Hannan stated emphatically that Dorsey was "an incorrigible recidivist" who was "first sent to the Diocesan hospice after he became sexually involved with a high school girl," according to the grand jury report.
Dorsey resigned his ministry in 1975. He died in 2007.
Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims and survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and other clergy in the Diocese of Scranton. If you need a lawyer because you were sexually abused by a priest in Pennsylvania, contact our office today. Although many years have passed, those abused by Catholic clergy in the Diocese of Scranton may 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 Pennsylvania and nationwide. We can help.
Contact us at 888-283-9922 or adam@adamhorowitzlaw.com to discuss your options today.