Fr. William J. Walsh – Diocese of Albany

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

Father William J. Walsh

Diocese of Albany

Ordained: 1954

Removed: 1998

Dead: 2018

Assigned as follows:

  • 1954-1955: Woodstock College (Woodstock, MD)
  • 1955-1956: Jesuit Tertianship (Auriesville, NY)
  • 1956-1961: St. Ignatius (Baltimore, MD)
  • 1961-1965: Bishop’s Latin School (Pittsburgh, PA)
  • 1966-1967: Georgetown University (Washington, DC)
  • 1967-1973: Novitiate of St. Issac Jogues (Wernersville, PA)
  • 1973-1975: Georgetown University (Washington, DC)
  • 1980-1985: Jesuit Fathers and Brothers Maryland Provincial Curia (Baltimore, MD)
  • 1985-1986: Jesuit Community (Berkeley, CA)
  • 1985-1991: St. Alphonsus House at St. Joseph University (Philadelphia, PA)
  • 1991-1996:  China
  • 1996-1998: Woodstock Jesuit Community at Georgetown University (Washington, DC)
  • 1998-2010: Ferdinand Wheeler House (Baltimore, MD)
  • 2010-2012:  Colombiere Jesuit Community (Baltimore, MD)

Summary of Sexual Abuse Allegations against Father William J Walsh:

In 1996, Fr. William J Walsh was accused of sexually abusing five of his nieces over hundreds of times. According to media reports, the alleged abuse occurred from the 1940s until the 1960s. The women were prompted to act when Walsh wrote to a relative that he had befriended a 3-year-old girl in China. When the accusations came out, Walsh was on a foreign mission in China and had to be recalled and reassigned to Woodstock Jesuit Community at Georgetown University and sent to treatment.

Two years later, the five nieces made their allegations public knowledge because the Jesuits refused to remove Walsh from active ministry. It also came out that the female sisters all thought they were his only victims and did not gather their stories until 40 years after the abuse.

After his removal in 1998, he lived at Ferdinand Wheeler House in Baltimore, Maryland until 2010, then the Colombiere Jesuit Community until his death.

Walsh is listed on the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s list of “Priests and Brothers Accused of Child Sex Abuse” and on the Maryland Jesuit’s list of “Jesuits with an allegation of an offense against a minor.”

Walsh died in 2018.

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].