Father Kevin Barmasse
Archdiocese of Los Angeles
Ordained: 1982
Laicized: 2006
Assignment History:
- 1983: St. Pancratius Church (Lakewood, CA)
- 1983-1986: St. Andrew the Apostle Parish, (Sierra Vista AZ)
- 1986-1988: St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish, (Tucson, AZ)
- 1988-1991: Blessed Sacrament Parish, (Mammoth AZ)
- 1992-2018: Unknown
Summary of Sexual Abuse Allegations Against Father Kevin Barmasse:
Fr. Kevin Barmasse was ordained a priest in 1982, and served in the Diocese of Los Angeles. According to media reports, in 1983, he was accused of sexually abusing a 12-year-old boy in Los Angeles. Documents in the file say that law enforcement was contacted after the allegation against Fr. Barmasse, but that prosecution wasn’t pursued because the parents didn’t want to subject their child to interviews. Instead, they believed the removal of Father Barmasse from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, plus psychiatric treatment for him, “would solve the problem.”
Fr. Barmasse was sent to work in the Diocese of Tucson on the condition that he receive treatment there. Documents released by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles show that church officials allowed Fr. Barmasse to minister in Tucson for seven years after that original accusation. Fr. Barmasse worked at three churches in Southern Arizona and in 1991, complaints from youth group members and their parents in the Diocese of Tucson had begun to surface. A report said that Fr. Barmasse made sexual advances toward five male high school students during his assignment at St. Elizabeth Parish. The students were between the ages of 17 and 20 at the time of the alleged abuse.
Among the accusations was that Fr. Barmasse tried to get a 15-year-old boy to perform oral sex on him and that he provided the boy and others with beer and pornographic movies. According to documents, one boy said he’d been fondled on at least seven occasions between 1986 and 1987. One man said he’d had both oral and anal sex with Fr. Barmasse when he was 16.
The five alleged survivors filed lawsuits alleging that Fr. Barmasse abused them. Each alleged survivor settled with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and the Diocese of Tucson.
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles revoked Fr. Barmasse’s faculties in 1992. His request to return to active ministry was denied in 1999. In May 2006, Father Barmasse was laicized. In 2007, the Pima County Attorney’s Office in Arizona reopened a criminal investigation of Fr. Barmasse. Fr. Barmasse was included in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles’ list of priests accused of sexual misconduct involving minors. He was last known to be living in Oceanside, CA.
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.