Fr. Donald Starks – Diocese of Albany

On Behalf of | Jun 26, 2020 | Abuser Profiles, Catholic Church

Father Donald Starks

Diocese of Albany

Ordained: 1949

Died: 1989

Assigned as follows:

  • 1950-1955: St. Francis de Sales (Troy, NY)
  • 1956-1957: St. Ambrose (Latham, NY)
  • 1957-1964: St. Patrick (Albany, NY)
  • 1965-1966: St. Peter Hospital (Albany, NY)
  • 1967-1968: St. Francis de Sales (Colonie, NY)

Summary of Sexual Abuse Allegations against Father Donald Starks:

In 2004, a man who claimed that he was sexually abused by an Albany priest both in Albany, New York, and Boston, Massachusetts, sued both the Albany and Boston Diocese for $3 million dollars. The priest named in the lawsuit was Fr. Donald Starks. The man claims he was 14 years old when the abuse began at St. Francis de Sales in Colonie, NY.

The victim claimed that he used to go to the priest for school work help and when he would get an answer wrong, Starks would make him “pay up his account”.Starks would also take the victim on trips where the abuse would continue over a period of three years.

A second lawsuit was brought up a year later, with claims of abuse during the same time period as the first case. According to media reports, Starks and another priest abused him for three years in the early 1960s, starting when he was age 14, at St. Patrick’s in Albany, NY.

Most recently his name appeared on the list of “Clergy Credibly Accused While Serving in the Diocese of Albany,” which was released in November of 2018.

In 2020, there was another lawsuit filed in which it alleges abuse by Starks and Fr. Daniel J. Maher of, an altar boy, ages 11-13, in 1966-1968.

Starks is the brother of accused priest R. Mansfield Starks. Starks has been listed as deceased since 1989.

Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims and survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and other clergy in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany. If you need a lawyer because you were sexually abused by a priest in New York, contact our office today. Although many years have passed, those abused by Catholic clergy in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany now have legal options to recover damages due to a compensation fund created for victims. Contact us at 888-283-9922 or at [email protected].