Fr. Charles Many (Edmundite) – Diocese of Burlington

| Apr 2, 2020 | Abuser Profiles, Catholic Church

Father Charles Many 

Diocese of Burlington/Edmundites

Ordained: 1974

Removed: 1986

Left priesthood: 1994

Laicized: 1995 

Assigned as follows:

  • 1974-1978      St. Mary (Greenfield Park, Quebec, Canada)
  • 1978-1981      (Groton and Noank, CT) 
  • 1981-1986      St. Lawrence (Essex Junction, VT)
  • 1986-1994      Edmundite Generalate (Burlington, VT)

Summary of Abuse Allegations against Father Charles Many:

According to media reports, in 1986, Father Charles Many, an Edmundite priest, was accused of sexual misconduct with a boy in Vermont in 1978, while he was assigned to the Diocese of Norwich in Connecticut. He was removed from ministry immediately.

In 1994, another man alleged child sexual abuse by Father Many in Connecticut between 1978 and 1981. In 2001, a federal jury awarded the man an $850,000 verdict against Fr. Many, but the judge soon ordered a new trial on the grounds that she improperly admitted evidence about Many’s sexual abuse of a boy after the plaintiff was abused.  Given the emotional and financial toll of a second trial, the man opted not to proceed with it.  

In 2015, a man filed a lawsuit alleging that Father Many sexually abused him when he was a 14-year-old altar boy in the late 1970s-early 1980s at Sacred Heart in Groton. The priest denied any wrongdoing. According to the Edmundite’s archives, a file showed they knew that Father Many was “receiving boys in his room” as far back as 1976. According to news reports, the Diocese of Burlington and the Edmundite order agreed to a $900,000 settlement. 

“He has struggled throughout his life with periods of depression, with a lot of anxiety surrounding things that might seem unusual for a man, like fear of the dark, fear of unknown people, fear of loud noises,” the victim’s attorney said.

Father Many resigned from the priesthood in 1994, and was laicized in July 1995.

In August 2019, Many’s name appeared publicly on the Edmundites’ and the Diocese of Burlington’s lists of clergy credibly accused of sex abuse of minors.

In Fall 2019, he was named in a lawsuit alleging the sexual abuse of a 7-year-old boy, during confession at Sacred Heart in Groton.

Father Many’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 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.