Fr. Robert Marsicek – Diocese of Sacramento

| Jun 11, 2020 | Abuser Profiles, Catholic Church

Father Robert Marsicek

Diocese of Sacramento/Salvatorian Order

Ordained: 1968

Removed: 2013

Assignment History:

  • 1968-1969: Divine Savior (Lanham, MD)
  • 1969-1973: St. Gregory’s (St. Nazianz, WI)
  • 1973-1974: St. Mark’s and Arizona State Hospital (Phoenix, AZ)
  • 1973-1974: Maricopa Children’s Hospital (Maricopa, AZ)
  • 1974-1987: St. Joseph’s (Huntsville, AL)
  • 1983-1987: St. John the Baptist (Madison, AL)
  • 1987-2000: Divine Savior (Sacramento, CA)
  • 2000-2001: Salvatorian Provincial Residence (Milwaukee, WI)
  • 2001-2011: St. Pius X (Wauwatosa, WI)
  • 2006-2012: Archdiocesan Consultors (Milwaukee, WI)
  • 2008-2013: Mother of Good Counsel (Milwaukee, WI)
  • 2011-2013: Wauwatosa Catholic School (Wauwatosa, WI)
  • 2013-2017: Provincialate of the Society of the Divine Savior (Milwaukee, WI)

Summary of Sexual Abuse Allegations Against Father Robert Marsicek:

Robert “Bob” Marsicek was ordained a priest of the Milwaukee-based Salvatorian Order in 1968. He ministered in parishes in the Dioceses of Green Bay, WI, Phoenix, AZ, Birmingham, AL, Sacramento, CA, and Milwaukee, WI.

According to media reports, in 2013, Marsicek was suspended from active ministry when a teacher reported questionable behavior with a student at Wauwatosa Catholic School, where Marsicek was working. The teacher told the Wauwatosa police that she witnessed three incidents in recent days of Marsicek inappropriately touching one of her male students.

On April 13, 2013, the pastor of Marsicek’s former parish in Orangedale, CA read a letter at Masses revealing that Marsicek allegedly had sexually abused two children in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The Diocese of Sacramento had reported the allegations to the Milwaukee archdiocese and the Salvatorians in May 2012, but they still allowed Fr. Marsicek to remain pastor of the two parishes with access to grade-school children.

In mid-April 2013, after the Milwaukee district attorney announced that he would not be charging Marsicek, Wauwatosa police released a detailed investigative report to local media. The report revealed numerous complaints and “red flags” about Marsicek dating back years. A mother had told the St. Pius X principal in approximately 2006 that her daughter, then in kindergarten or first grade, had complained of Marsicek touching her genitalia. Marsicek himself admitted to police that parents had complained about his behavior around 2007 and 2012. The police report also summarized the personnel files that had been maintained by the Milwaukee archdiocese and by the Salvatorians. These revealed repeated complaints by parents, teachers, and day-care providers about Marsicek’s inappropriate behavior with children. The archdiocesan file included a 2005 letter to then-Archbishop Timothy Dolan from his chancellor citing parents’ concern about “possible boundary issues”.

In April 2013, a woman from Manitowoc County WI (Green Bay Diocese) told the Journal Sentinel and the Salvatorians of allegations against Marsicek from when he served in a parish there in the 1970s.

On February 22, 2017, Marsicek was criminally charged with three counts of felony sexual assault of a young girl, beginning when she was six years old at St. Pius X Parish and Wauwatosa Catholic School from 2007 to 2010. Marsicek pled guilty to a reduced sentence and received one year in the House of Corrections. He was recently released.

Marsicek is included on the Diocese of Sacramento list of priests credibly accused of child sexual abuse.

Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims and survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and other clergy in the Diocese of Sacramento in California. If you need a lawyer because you were sexually abused by a priest in one of California’s Catholic dioceses, contact our office today. Although many years have passed, those abused by Catholic clergy in the Diocese of Sacramento now have legal options due to a temporary change in the law, but filing deadlines will apply so do not delay in reaching out to us. Our lawyers have decades of experience representing survivors of clergy sexual abuse in California and nationwide. We can help.

Contact us at 888-283-9922 or [email protected] to discuss your options today.