Father Matthew Sprouffske
Archdiocese of Los Angeles (Carmelites)
Ordained: 1954
Removed: 2002
Died: 2005
Assigned as follows:
- 1955 Unknown/possibly Kent, England
- 1956-1960 Mount Carmel High School (Los Angeles, CA)
- 1961-1967 Crespi Carmelite High School (Encino, CA)
- 1968-1976 Mount Carmel High School (Los Angeles, CA)
- 1977-1980 Mount Carmel Priory (Los Angeles, CA)
- 1981-1989 St. Raphael (Los Angeles, CA)
- 1990-1992 Mount Carmel Priory (Los Angeles, CA)
- 1993-2001 St. John of God Retirement and Care Center (Los Angeles, CA)
- 2002 Carmelite Carefree Village (Darien, IL)
- 2003-2004 Unknown
Summary of Abuse Allegations against Father Matthew Sprouffske:
Father Matthew Sprouffske was a Carmelite priest, who served in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. According to media reports, in 1986, at least one survivor has named him in a civil lawsuit alleging child sexual abuse from 1955 to 1959, while he worked at Mt. Carmel High School in Los Angeles. The alleged survivor was his cousin and was under the age 14. He reportedly told her that he had also abused her sister and another girl.
According to his obituary, 1961 Sprouffske joined Father Augustine Carter in the opening of Crespi High School in Encino. In 1968 he returned to Mount Carmel as a teacher and counselor and Principal. In 1975 he established and directed Mount Carmel’s real fund-raising program. After the closing of Mt. Carmel in June 1976, Sprouffske became a certified Montessori teacher. He then opened a Montessori school for youngsters at St. Albert the Great in Compton. He later went on to be the Chaplin of the AIDS Hospice in Elysian Park, a chaplain of the Brothers of St. John of God, and a chaplain at both Flintridge Academy in La Canada and at Sacred Heart High School in East Los Angeles.
In December 2002, Father Sprouffske was arrested and removed from the Carmelite Order. The charges were later dropped in 2003, due to a California Supreme Court ruling. In 2006, the claim was included with six others alleging abuse by 5 priests, in a $10 million settlement.
Father Sprouffske lived at the Carmelite Carefree Village, a retirement community. His name appeared on the Archdiocese of Los Angeles’ list of clergy credibly accused of sex abuse of minors. His whereabouts from 2003 until his death in 2005 are unknown.
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