Father Robert Yurgel
Archdiocese of New York/Capuchin Friar
Ordained: 1996
Laicized: 2010
Assigned as follows:
- 1992: Catholic Conference Center (Hickory, NC)
- 1992-1993: St. Felix Friary (Wilmington, DE)
- 1993-1996: Our Lady of Lourdes Friary (Paterson, NJ)
- 1996-1997: Immaculate Conception Friary (New York, NY)
- 1997-1999: St. Matthew’s (Charlotte, NC); Our Lady of Consolation (Charlotte, NC); St. Michael’s (Gastonia, NC); Immaculate Conception Friary (New York, NY)
- 1999-2001: Immaculate Conception Friary (New York, NY)
- 2001-2003: Our Lady of Lourdes (Paterson, NJ); Immaculate Conception Friary, (New York, NY)
- 2003-2006: Immaculate Conception Friary (New York, NY)
- 2006-2008: St. Mary’s Hospital (Passaic, NJ); Our Lady of Mt. Carmel (Passaic, NJ); Immaculate Conception Friary (New York, NY); St. Francis (Passaic, NJ)
- 2008-2009: Immaculate Conception Friary (New York, NY)
- 2010-2020: Unknown
Summary of Abuse Allegations against Father Robert Yurgel:
Fr. Robert Yurgel was a priest for the Capuchin Franciscan Friars of the Province of the Sacred Stigmata of St. Francis. He was assigned in 1997 to the Diocese of Charlotte North Carolina, where he worked in several area parishes. In October 1999, he was transferred out of the diocese and returned to his order in New York. He was then assigned to the Diocese of Paterson New Jersey.
According to media reports, in 2008, a 23-year-old man reported to police that Yurgel sexually abused him beginning in 1999 when he was a 14-year-old altar boy at St. Matthew’s in Charlotte, while Father Yurgel was an assistant priest. The man said the abuse occurred at St. Matthew’s, Our Lady of Consolation, in a car in the parking lot of St. Michael’s in Gastonia, and at the boy’s home when his parents were out. Yurgel was a close friend of the boy’s family.
The priest was arrested in New Jersey in April 2008, and extradited to North Carolina. At the time of his arrest, he was chaplain at St. Mary’s in Passaic, NJ. He pleaded guilty, and in February 2009 was sentenced to a minimum of seven years and eight months in prison, and was ordered to register as a sex offender.
“For the past decade, I have lived in fear of you. You made me believe my family would be mad at me. But … my family did believe me. My family did not get mad at me. My family still loves me,” the victim said in court.
In 2008, Yurgel’s victim filed a suit against the Diocese of Charlotte and Capuchin Franciscans, claiming they covered up his case, and that the diocese knew of his sexual misconduct in 1999. The suit was settled in 2010 for $1.23 million. He was laicized the same year.
Yurgel was released from prison in August 2016. He is believed to live in Clinton, New Jersey.
Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims and survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and other clergy in the Archdiocese of New York. If you need a lawyer because you were sexually abused by a priest or other Catholic clergy in New York State, contact our office today. Although many years have passed, those abused by Catholic clergy in the Archdiocese of New York now have legal options, 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 New York and nationwide. We can help.
Contact us at 888-283-9922 or [email protected] to discuss your options today.