Fr. Wladyslaw Gorak
(a/k/a Walter Fisher)
Diocese of Orlando
Ordained: 1998
Assigned in Orlando: 2004-2005
Summary of Sexual Abuse Allegations Against Fr. Wladyslaw Gorak (a/k/a Walter Fisher):
Originally ordained for the Archdiocese of Newark, Gorak began working in the Diocese of Orlando in 2004, after Newark Aux. Bishop Arthur Serratelli provided a sworn affidavit to the Bishop of Orlando that Gorak was fit for ministry and had "good moral character."
However, the Archdiocese of Newark was aware of multiple complaints from female parishioners that Gorak was sexually aggressive toward them. He had even been investigated by several police departments in New Jersey in response to women's complaints of stalking and inappropriate conduct. Another priest at St. Adalbert church in Elizabeth told Chancery officials that a deacon witness Gorak kissing a female parishioner who was "pushing Father Walter away." The report was made directly to then-Archbishop Theodore Cardinal McCarrick. The Archbishop was also told of Gorak's history of saying "improper sexual things" to female employees, and also that he made physical advances on the parish cook.
In 2004, Gorak was arrested for forcibly entering the home of a female congregant at Resurrection in Lakeland, Florida. She was later represented by Horowitz Law attorneys in a civil lawsuit. According to the victim's allegations, Gorak broke into her home and attempted to sexually assault her. She was able to break away from him and fled the home wearing only her undergarments, as he had torn her other clothing off after he removed some of his own clothes.
In 2007, Gorak pled guilty to burglary, aggravated stalking, false imprisonment, and battery. The Court placed him on four years probation and ordered him into treatment and counseling. In 2010, the Diocese of Orlando and the Archdiocese of Newark settled the victim's lawsuit.
When Gorak became a U.S. Citizen, he legally changed his name to Walter Fisher. Gorak is believed to be residing in the Lakeland, Florida area. Whether he remains a priest or has been laicized (removed from the priesthood) is unknown.
Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims and survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and other clergy in the Diocese of Orlando in Florida. If you need a lawyer because you were sexually abused by a priest in Florida, contact our office today. Our lawyers have decades of experience representing survivors of clergy sexual abuse in Florida and nationwide. We can help.
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