Father Norman Rogge
Diocese of Lafayette
Ordained: 1956
Removed: 2002
Died: 2009
Assigned as follows:
- 1956-1957: St. Mary’s College (St. Mary’s, KS)
- 1957-1958: St. Robert’s Hall (Pomfret, CT)
- 1958-1960: Jesuit High School of Dallas (Dallas, TX)
- 1960-1979: Sacred Heart (Tampa, FL)
- 1960-1979: Juvenile Detention Home (Tampa, FL)
- 1979-1981: St. Ignatius (Mobile, AL)
- 1981-1982: Jesuit Theological Union (Berkeley, CA)
- 1982-1985: Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Campti, LA)
- 1982-1985: St. Joseph’s (Trichel, LA)
- 1982-1985: Our Lady of the Holy Rosary (Black Lake, LA)
- 1982-1985: St. Patrick’s (Montgomery, LA)
- 1985-1988: Unknown
- 1988-1989: Ignatius Residence (New Orleans, LA)
- 1989-2002: St. Charles College (Grand Coteau, LA)
- 1998-2002: St. Charles Borromeo (Grand Coteau, LA)
- 1998-2002: Christ the King (Bellevue, LA)
- 2002-2009: Ignatius Residence (New Orleans, LA)
Summary of Sexual Abuse Allegations against Fr. Norman Rogge:
Fr. Norman Rogge was ordained a Jesuit priest in 1956, who served in multiple parishes throughout Kansas, Connecticut, Texas, Florida, Alabama, California, and Louisiana including in the Diocese of Lafayette. According to media reports, he was convicted twice for child sexual abuse in 1967 and 1985.
In 1967, Fr. Rogge was accused of groping a 14-year-old at a movie. According to news reports, the victim lived at a group home Rogge had access to. Other residents also complained of inappropriate touching during swimming lessons at the priest’s lake house. A police report indicated he also admitted to asking a boy for oral sex. Fr. Rogge pleaded guilty to charges relating to child molestation and received three years’ probation. He was given probation and required to undergo psychiatric counseling. He stayed in ministry in Tampa, until he was transferred to the Mobile Diocese in 1979.
In 1984, Fr. Rogge was visiting Tampa, and spent a weekend at a cabin with two other men and an 11-year-old boy. One of the men was a convicted child molester. All three men were associated with an organization formed to search for missing children, a newspaper reported.
A police report alleges that the men walked around all weekend naked and masturbated in front of the child. In connection with this investigation, Fr. Rogge pleaded no contest to a lewdness charge in 1985 and was placed on probation again. He reportedly was required to go to a Catholic treatment facility in New Mexico. For both convictions, his criminal record was wiped clean of the child molestation charges upon completing probation, and after both convictions, he was allowed to continue working as a priest.
Since then, numerous survivors have come forward alleging child sexual abuse by Fr. Rogge, with the earliest allegation in 1963. In 2002, a team of journalists exposed Fr. Rogge’s sexually abusive past that resulted in him being removed by the Diocese of Lafayette and sent to a Jesuit retirement community in New Orleans.
Rogge is named on the Jesuits’ December 2018 list of priests with credible allegations of sexual abuse of a child. He also was on the list released by the Archdiocese of Mobile in 2018 and the list released by the Diocese of Alexandria in 2019.
Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims and survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and other clergy in the Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana. If you need a lawyer because you were sexually abused by a priest in Louisiana, contact our office today. Although many years have passed, those abused by Catholic clergy in the Diocese of Lafayette may now have legal options, 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 Louisiana and nationwide. We can help.
Contact us at 888-283-9922 or [email protected] to discuss your options today.