Fr. John F. O’Brien – Archdiocese of New York

| Aug 12, 2020 | Abuser Profiles, Catholic Church

Father John F. O’Brien

Archdiocese of New York/Christian Brothers


Joined: 1958

Ordained: 1990

Assigned as follows:

    • Holy Cross in St. John’s Newfoundland (Canada)
    • All Hallows (Bronx, NY)
    • Iona Grammar (New Rochelle, NY)
    • Rice High School (Manhattan, NY)
    • Bishop Kearney High School (Rochester, NY)
    • Monsignor Farrell High School (Staten Island, NY)
    • St. Sylvester’s (Staten Island, NY)
    • St. John Neumann Residence
    • St. Pius X (Scarsdale, NY)

Summary of Abuse Allegations against Father John F O’Brien:

Fr. John F O’Brien entered the Congregation of Christian Brothers in 1958. In 1990, he was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of New York. According to media reports, in 2005, O’Brien was named in a lawsuit filed by a fellow brother alleging that he repeatedly sexually abused him as a minor boy beginning in 1979 and lasting until 1982. At the time, O’Brien was a member of the Congregation of Christian Brothers. The alleged victim said he had been abused by another priest, and went to O’Brien for help.

He said, “I reported to O’Brien my entire story of abuse by Boschetto. He agreed that what I described to him was abuse and that I was not complicit in any way with it. Later that day, my parents invited O’Brien to spend the night…as I slept, I felt someone crawling into my bed. It was O’Brien. Once again, I froze in place and was consumed with terror. O’ Brien removed my undergarments and began abusing me in the same manner as Boschetto”.

O’Brien’s accuser said he reported the abuse to the Christian Brothers’ Deputy Provincial, Br. Robert McGovern, but nothing was done. In October 2009, the NY Supreme Court dismissed the lawsuit because the statute of limitations had run out.

O’Brien served at St. Pius X in Scarsdale, NY until his death in 2009.

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