Father Michael Buckley
Archdiocese of Los Angeles
Ordained: 1955
Removed: 1994
Died: 2007
Assignment History:
- 1956: Los Nietos (Santa Fe Springs, CA)
- 1957: Visitation (Los Angeles CA)
- 1958-1959: Sacred Heart (Los Angeles, CA)
- 1960-1962: St. Charles Borromeo (North Hollywood, CA)
- 1963-1965: Immaculate Conception (Monrovia, CA)
- 1966: St. Philomena (Carson, CA)
- 1967-1970: St. Francis Hospital (Lynwood, CA)
- 1971-1975: Immaculate Heart of Mary Church (Santa Ana, CA)
- 1976-1977: St. Margaret Mary Alacoque Catholic Church (Lomita, CA)
- 1978: St. Augustine Catholic Church (Culver City, CA)
- 1979-1994: Immaculate Conception Catholic Church (New Cuyama, CA)
- 1995: Carmelite Monastery, Novitiate (San Jose, CA)
- 1996-1997: Sick Leave
Summary of Sexual Abuse Allegations Against Father Michael Buckley:
Fr. Michael Buckley was ordained a priest in 1955, and served in multiple parishes in the Diocese of Los Angeles. According to media reports, he was accused of engaging in sexual abuse with eight children between 1965 and 1975 while working at Immaculate Heart of Mary in Santa Ana. In 1959, a father of two boys alleged that Fr. Buckley exposed himself to both of his sons. In 1965, an anonymous letter was sent to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles requesting that Buckley be removed due to moral unfitness.
In 1983, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles’s Chancellor received an anonymous phone message indicating that Father Buckley had engaged in inappropriate sexual conduct with children. In the early 1990s, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles received several more allegations of child sexual abuse against Father Buckley, including a report by one man in February 1994, that Father Buckley sexually abused him and his brothers over a five-year period from 1971 to 1975. His priestly faculties were revoked.
In 1995, Father Buckley was living in the Diocese of San Jose at a Carmelite Monastery. A civil lawsuit filed against him was settled as part of the 2007 $660 million settlement with 508 plaintiffs. He retired in April 1997 and died in May 2007. The Archdiocese of Los Angeles released Father Buckley’s file in January 2013. His name was included in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles’ list of priests accused of sexual misconduct involving minors.
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.