Brother Gerald Chumik
Archdiocese of Los Angeles (Franciscan Friars)
Removed: 1993
Assignment History:
- 1970-1978: St. John’s (Newfoundland, Canada)
- 1978-1982: St. Joseph’s (Los Angeles, CA)
- 1982-1985: Our Lady of Mt. Carmel (Fresno, CA)
- 1985-1986: St. Anthony’s Retreat (Three Rivers, CA)
- 1986-1997: St. Joseph’s (Los Angeles, CA)
- 1997-2003: St. Anthony’s Retreat (Three Rivers, CA)
- 2003-2004: Old Mission Santa Barbara (Santa Barbara, CA)
- 2004-2006: St. Anthony’s Retreat (Three Rivers, CA)
- 2006-2020: Franciscans’ Infirmary (Santa Barbara, CA)
Summary of Sexual Abuse Allegations Against Brother Gerald Chumik:
Br. Gerald Chumik, a member of the Franciscan Friars of the Province of St. Barbara, and served in multiple parishes in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. He is a native of Canada. According to media reports, he was accused in 1990 of forcing a 12-year-old boy to perform oral sex on him from 1973-1976 in Canada. Br. Chumik arrived in California in the late 1970s, just after the abuse, and served in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and the Diocese of Fresno.
Br. Chumik’s charges in Canada came to light in the early 1990s after a man reported incidents to the Canadian police in St. John’s, 16 years after the alleged abuse occurred. He was subsequently restricted from ministry in 1990 and removed in 1993 when working in a prison and a mental hospital.
Brother Chumik is wanted on a warrant in Canada for two charges of gross indecency against the teenage boy. Extradition proceedings were never initiated because the crime is not covered in the extradition treaty between the U.S. and Canada. In 2005, it was reported that Chumik was living at Wounded Brothers (RECON), a Franklin County, MO home for troubled priests. Currently, he is living in a Franciscan retirement home and infirmary in Santa Barbara, CA, and cannot leave the grounds without someone accompanying him. He receives sex-offender therapy sessions in Los Angeles.
In 2019, Br. Chumik was included in the Franciscan Friars Province of Santa Barbara’s List of Franciscan Friars from the St. Barbara Province with Credible Claims of Sexual Abuse of a Minor.
Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims and survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and other clergy in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles 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 Archdiocese of Los Angeles now have legal options due to a voluntary compensation fund created by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, 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.