Father John Wadeson
Diocese of Trenton/Society of the Divine Word
Ordained: 1969
Removed: 2014
Reinstated: 2015
Assigned as follows:
- 1970: Divine Word Seminary (St. Mary’s) (Techny, IL)
- 1971: St. Peter Claver (Ashbury Park, NJ)
- 1972-1973: Verbum Dei High School (Boys) (Los Angeles, CA)
- 1974: St. John the Evangelist (Los Angeles, CA)
- 1975-1978: Notre Dame High School (Riverside, CA)
- 1979: Divine Word Seminary (Riverside, CA)
- 1981: Casa Guadalupe (Los Angeles, CA)
- 1982-1983: St. John the Evangelist (Los Angeles, CA)
- 1984-1986: Verbum Dei High School (Boys) (Los Angeles, CA)
- 1987-1995: St. Peter Claver (Ashbury Park, NJ)
- 1996-2005: Unknown
- 2006-2014: St. Charles Borromeo (San Francisco, CA)
- 2015-2017: On Duty Outside the Archdiocese
- 2018-2019: Unknown
Summary of Abuse Allegations against Father John Wadeson:
Fr. John Wadeson worked in multiple parishes in the Diocese of Trenton, New Jersey, the Diocese of Brooklyn (New York), and the Diocese of Portland in Oregon. According to a report from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, in 1992, Wadeson was accused of sexually abusing two children from 1973 to 1977, while he was working as a priest with the Divine Word Missionaries religious order. In February 2014, he was named in church records as a twice accused predator priest and was banned from working in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
In 2014, he was found working as a priest in Guam, reportedly since at least 2000. He had identified himself as an “Australian priest of the Archdiocese of Agana in Guam, Micronesia.” The Archdiocese of Guam directory indicated he was incardinated in the archdiocese but assigned to Neocatechumenal Center in San Francisco. Following the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) exposing his past in California, he was removed from active ministry in July 2014. The archdiocese admitted knowledge of the priest’s past allegations in 2000. Wadeson denied all allegations and the day after his removal, he left Guam, possibly to San Francisco. The Archdiocese of San Francisco withdrew privileges later that month.
According to media reports, in April 2015, the Archdiocese of Agana fully reinstated Wadeson after the Archdiocese of Los Angeles reviewed his case and said since there was no settlement or conviction Wadeson was “a priest in good standing”.
“Although Fr. Wadeson has not been convicted of abuse, the fact that the Archdiocese of Los Angeles has banned him from the ministry is just causing Apuron to remove the cleric immediately. We fear that Apuron is putting Guam’s children at direct risk and protecting a credibly accused predator instead of protecting his flock,” a SNAP press release stated.
Wadeson’s 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 Trenton in New Jersey. If you need a lawyer because you were sexually abused by a priest in New Jersey, contact our office today. Although many years have passed, those abused by Catholic clergy in the Diocese of Trenton 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.
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