Father Thomas Summers
Diocese of Richmond
Ordained: 1943
Died: 1992
Assigned as follows:
- (Arlington County, VA)
- (Norfolk, VA)
- (Portsmouth, VA)
- (Lynchburg, VA)
- (Staunton, VA)
- (Suffolk, VA)
- (Powhatan County, VA)
- (Farmville, VA)
- (Roanoke, VA)
Summary of Abuse Allegations against Father Thomas Summers:
Father Thomas Summers served in multiple parishes for 49 years before he retired as a priest. According to media reports, in August 2003, a man filed a lawsuit alleging that Father Thomas Summers raped and battered him for four years starting when he was a 10-year-old altar boy while at St. James Catholic School in the 1960s. He also alleged that he was molested by another priest, Father Andrew Roy at a different time.
According to the suit, Father Summers used drugs and alcohol to incapacitate the victim. The man said he remembered one time when he tried to run away from Father Summers, but the priest caught him and slapped him in the face. “He said if I didn’t do what he wanted, he would go to social services and have me taken away from my parents.”
In December 2003, two more men came forward in support of the allegations. Father Summers died in 1992.
Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims and survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and other clergy in the Diocese of Richmond. If you need a lawyer because you were sexually abused by a priest in Richmond, contact our office today. Although many years have passed, those abused by Catholic clergy in the Diocese of Richmond 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 [email protected] to discuss your options today.