Father James P. Collins
Diocese of Brooklyn
Ordained: 1969
Removed: 2002
Assigned as follows:
- Our Lady of Angels (Brooklyn, NY)
- 1970-1977: St. Michael’s (Flushing, NY)
- 1978-1980: St. Clare’s (Brooklyn, NY)
- 1981-1983: Our Lady Queen of Martyrs (Brooklyn, NY)
- 1984: St. Margaret’s (Brooklyn, NY)
- 1985-2002: Bishop Kearney High School (Brooklyn, NY)
- 1986-1989: St. Thomas Aquinas (Brooklyn, NY)
- 1990-1998: St. Columba (Brooklyn, NY)
- 1999-2002: St. Bernard’s (Brooklyn, NY)
- 2003-2007: Retired
- 2008-2020: Unknown
Summary of Abuse Allegations against Father James P Collins:
Fr. James P Collins served at several parishes in the Diocese of Brooklyn. He served as chaplain at an all-girls school for 17 years, beginning in 1984. He also worked at Catholic Charities and held the position of Flushing Module Youth Program Moderator.
According to media reports, in October 2002, he was one of twelve priests and one brother named in a lawsuit that accused him of sexually abusing four minor boys from 1970 to 1984 while serving in a Queens parish. The allegations against Collins were reportedly considered as “several and serious”. He denied any wrongdoing. That year, he was permanently removed from ministry.
In October 2003, a second lawsuit alleged that he abused two altar boys in the early 1970s and early 1980s at St. Michael’s in Flushing, New York, and at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs in Forest Hills. That same year, another man accused him of sexually abusing him as a child but killed himself just before the lawsuit was filed. His mother said her son wrote the Diocese of Brooklyn in 1995 to complain that Collins fondled him in 1970 when he was an altar boy at St. Michael’s, but no action was taken.
In February 2019, Collins’ name appeared publicly on the Diocese of Brooklyn’s list of clergy credibly accused of sex abuse of minors.
Following his suspension, Collins was found to be volunteering as a bus driver for the women’s softball team at St. Francis College in Brooklyn, New York. His 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 Brooklyn. If you need a lawyer because you were sexually abused by a priest in Brooklyn, contact our office today. Although many years have passed, those abused by Catholic clergy in the Diocese of Brooklyn 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.