Fr. Joseph R. Romano
Diocese of Albany
Ordained: 1966
Placed on Leave: 2003
Dead: 2019
Assigned as follows:
- 1967-1968: St. Anthony’s (Albany, NY)
- 1969-1970: St. George’s (Albany, NY)
- 1970-1971: St. Joseph’s (Albany, NY)
- 1971-1974: Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (Albany, NY)
- 1975-1977: St. Ann’s (Albany, NY)
- 1978-1979: St. Lucy’s (Altamont, NY)
- 1980-2003: St. Catherine of Siena (Albany, NY)
- 1981-1985: LaSalle School Inc. (Albany, NY)
- 1986-1994: Coxsackie Correctional Facility (Coxsackie, NY)
- 1995-2001: Greene County Correctional Institute (Coxsackie, NY)
- 1999-2000: NY Coxsackie Correctional Institution (West Coxsackie, NY)
- 2001-2004: Our Lady of Fatima (Delanson, NY)
Summary of Sexual Abuse Allegations against Father Joseph R Romano:
Fr. Joseph R Romano was first accused of sexual abuse in 1998, but the authorities found the complaint unfounded during the initial investigation. He served as a prison chaplain from 1984 to 1999 until he retired and moved to Florida. Romano served as assistant principal at former Cardinal McCloskey High School during the mid-1970s and also served as Fire Department Chaplain from 1967 to 1984.
It wasn’t until 2002 and 2003 when two more complaints were made against him. Bishop Hubbard and the Diocese of Albany found the accusations credible and placed him on administrative leave in 2003, despite him already being retired.
Another civil suit was filed against Romano and the diocese in 2005, with the victim claiming that he was repeatedly abused at the hands of Romano while at Camp Tekawitha on Lake Luzerne in the early 1960s.
Romano has requested a canonical trial as of August 2005. His name also appeared on the list of “Clergy Credibly Accused While Serving in the Diocese of Albany,” which was released in November of 2018.
In 2019, a lawsuit was filed with claims that Romano abused a boy, age 15-16, in 1980-1981.
As of 2019, he was living in Clifton Park in New York. Romano died later in 2019.
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].