Bp. John R. McGann – Diocese of Rockville Centre

| Jan 21, 2020 | Abuser Profiles, Catholic Church

Bishop John McGann 

Diocese of Rockville Centre

Ordained: 1950

Died: 2002

Assigned as follows:

  • 1951-1957      St. Ann’s (Brentwood, NY) 
  • 1958-1970      St. Agnes (Rockville Centre, NY) 
  • 1971                St. Joseph’s, Garden City, NY) 
  • 1972-1976      Auxiliary Bishop of Rockville Centre; Titular Bishop of Morosbisdus; Episcopal Vicar of Suffolk  
  • 1977-1999      Bishop of Rockville Centre
  • 1977-2001      St. Agnes (Rockville Centre, NY) 
  • 2000-2001      Retired 

Summary of Abuse Allegations Against Bishop John McGann:

Bishop John McGann was the Bishop of the Diocese of Rockville Centre for twenty-five years. According to media reports, in February 2019, two women alleged that Bishop McGann sexually abusing them when they were children in the 1960s and 1970s while he was a priest at St. Agnes in Rockville Centre, New York. 

One woman said Bishop McGann was a monsignor when she was abused by him over a five-year period, Monsignor Edward L. Melton for four years, and Father Robert L. Brown for about seven years while they were all at St. Agnes in Rockville Centre. The other alleged victim said Monsignors McGann, Melton, and Mr. John Hanlon, the St. Agnes parish janitor, abused her. Both women said that, in 1967, when they were 11 years old, they were fondled while passed around the laps of priests at a Christmas party in the rectory. 

Bishop McGann died in 2002. 

In October 2019, the two women and the brother of one of them filed suit alleging child sexual abuse by Bishop McCann.

Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims and survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and other clergy in the Diocese of Rockville Centre in New York.  If you need a lawyer because you were sexually abused by a priest in New York, contact our office today. In October 2020, the Rockville Centre Diocese filed for federal bankruptcy protection.  The Court will resolve all claims of sexual abuse in this process but strict filing deadlines will apply and no late claims will be considered, so contact us today.  Our lawyers have decades of experience representing survivors of clergy sexual abuse in New York and nationwide. We can help. 

Contact us at 888-283-9922 or [email protected] to discuss your options today.