Father Eugene O’Brien
Archdiocese of Newark
Ordained: 1956
Removed: 2002
Assigned as follows:
- 1957-1958 St. Robert’s Hall (Pomfret, CT)
- 1959-1960 St. Peter’s Preparatory (Jersey City, NJ)
- 1961-1980 Fordham Preparatory (Bronx, NY)
- 1981-1983 Leonard Neale House (Washington, DC)
- 1984-1985 Fairfield College Preparatory (Fairfield, CT)
- 1986-1994 Fordham University (Bronx, NY)
- 1994-2008 America Magazine (New York, NY)
- 1995-2002 The Gregorian University Foundation (New York, NY)
- 2003-2021 Unknown
Summary of Abuse Allegations against Father Eugene O’Brien:
Father Eugene O’Brien was ordained a Jesuit priest of the New York Province and served in the Archdiocese of Newark. He was president of Fordham Prep from 1960 until 1979, principal at Fairfield College Prep, vice president for community relations at Fordham University, and president of the Gregorian University Foundation in New York, a Jesuit institute.
According to media reports, in January 1997, a suit alleging that Father O’Brien sexually abused a boy at Fordham Prep in the early 1970s was settled for $25,000. He allegedly abused the boy multiple times, over a period of several years, including during a European trip with Father O’Brien and five other students.
“I don’t know if I was raped or penetrated, but I was violated,” Father O’Brien’s accuser told the press. “He would jump in the bed with me and I would just shut down, close my eyes and go somewhere else,” he said.
When he met the priest in 1997, Father O’Brien admitted to the abuse and blamed his actions on alcohol abuse. He would not apologize. He was removed from ministry in 2002. As of February 2009, he was a retired priest living at a Jesuit facility in midtown Manhattan.
In January 2019, Father O’Brien’s name was included on a new list of 50 Jesuits who have been credibly accused of child sexual abuse.
Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims and survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and other clergy in the Archdiocese of Newark in New Jersey. If you need a lawyer because you were sexually abused in the Archdiocese of Newark, contact our office today. Although many years have passed, those abused by Catholic clergy in the Archdiocese of Newark 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 New Jersey and nationwide. We can help.
Contact us at 888-283-9922 or [email protected] to discuss your options today.