Father Michael Madden
Diocese of Burlington
Ordained: 1970
Removed: 1988
Died: 2000
Assigned as follows:
- 1970-1974 Cathedral (Burlington, VT)
- 1974-1976 St. John the Evangelist (St. Johnsbury, VT)
- 1976 Fordham University (Bronx, NY,)
- 1976 Our Lady of Grace (Colchester, VT)
- 1976-1977 Church of the Blessed Sacrament (Stowe, VT)
- 1977-1985 Our Lady of Snows (Waitsfield, VT)
- 1985-1988 St. Paul (Barton, VT)
Summary of Abuse Allegations against Father Michael Madden:
Father Michael K. Madden served as a priest in Vermont for approximately 18 years. According to media reports, Bishop John A. Marshall revoked his public priestly faculties in April 1988. He resigned as pastor of St. Paul’s in July 1988.
Police at the time believed Father Madden had molested dozens of boys in the early 1970s at the St. Joseph’s Orphanage and at five parishes where he served as priest.
“He had many, many sexual relationships with boys,” said the now-retired police officer who investigated the Barton case for the Orleans County State’s Attorney Office.
Father Madden was convicted in 1989 on two counts of lewd and lascivious conduct with two boys in Barton. He was spared prison with a deferred sentence of probation for five years. He received treatment from a church-run sex offender program, St. Luke Institute in Maryland, instead of a state Corrections Department treatment program.
It was in therapy that Father Madden told a therapist he had molested dozens of teenage boys over a 20-year period. He ended up violating his probation at least six times, and served two years in prison.
In a 1994 civil trial, Father Madden was ordered to pay one victim $175,000. In September 2000, he died while vacationing in Austria. In 2003, a second lawsuit was filed.
In August 2019, his name appeared publicly on the Diocese of Burlington’s list of clergy credibly accused of sex abuse of minors.
Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims and survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and other clergy in the Diocese of Burlington. If you need a lawyer because you were sexually abused by a priest in Burlington, contact our office today. Although many years have passed, those abused by Catholic clergy in the Diocese of Burlington 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.