Mr. Dennis Jost
Diocese of San Bernardino
Ordained: N/A
Removed: 1997
Assigned as follows:
- N/A
Summary of Abuse Allegations against Dennis Jost:
According to media reports, in December 1977, Mr. Dennis Jost was arrested for taking a 12-year-old boy home after Sunday Mass at St. Peter and St. Paul’s Church in Alta Loma. He promised the boy they’d decorate his Christmas tree and watch football on TV. Instead, he got him drunk, fondled him, and performed oral sex. The boy’s parents told the priest at St. Peter and St. Paul’s of the incident before reporting it to the police. Jost pleaded no contest to charges of assault and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. The case was dismissed after he completed probation, and was ordered not to associate with youth.
Despite the order, he continued his work with children in the church. In 1982, Jost applied to become a foster parent of a young relative who had been living with him. He submitted letters in support of his application from the pastor and youth minister at Queen of Angels Church in Riverside, where he had been training acolytes. His application was rejected.
In an attempt to become ordained as a deacon, he participated in a Deacon Formation Program from 1983-1986. His ordination was denied when he refused to continue psychological treatment for the “incident” at St. Peter and St. Paul.
In 1990, Jost was arrested on federal charges that he took a minor from California to Arizona and New Mexico to abuse him. In 1991, a boy accused Jost of molesting him when he was an altar server at Queen of Angels in 1988. According to media reports, by 1993, he was convicted on a federal charge for transporting a child across state lines with intent to engage in sexual activities and sentenced to six months confinement and three years probation. A civil lawsuit was filed.
Jost began working in the Diocese of Dallas at St. Bernard of Clairvaux in 1995. He was removed from a volunteer position training altar servers in 1997 when a suspicious parishioner performed a background check and discovered his 1993 federal conviction. He was fired, and it was reported that the Diocese of San Bernardino, who may have previously known of allegations of child sexual abuse made against him.
In October 2010, as part of a settlement with survivors of clergy sexual abuse, the Diocese of San Diego released his personnel file. It referenced his prior conviction from the 1970s. His current whereabouts are unknown.
Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims and survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and other clergy in the Diocese of San Bernardino. If you need a lawyer because you were sexually abused by a priest in San Bernardino, contact our office today. Although many years have passed, those abused by Catholic clergy in the Diocese of San Bernardino now have legal options to recover damages due to a compensation fund created for victims. Call us at 888-283-9922 or send an email to adam@adamhorowitzlaw.com to discuss your options today.