Fr. Joseph Dooley – Diocese of Portland

| Sep 20, 2021 | Abuser Profiles, Catholic Church

Father Joseph Dooley

Diocese of Portland

Ordained: 1939

Died: 1983

Assigned as follows:

  • 1941-1946: Highgate Parish (Jamaica)
  • 1946-1951: Boston College High School (Boston, MA)
  • 1951-1954: Fairfield Preparatory (Fairfield, CT)
  • 1954-1958: Cheverus High School (Portland, ME)
  • Unknown:   St. Dominic (Portland, ME)
  • 1958-1983: Boston College High School (Boston, MA)

Summary of Sexual Abuse Allegations against Fr. Joseph Dooley:

Fr. Joseph Dooley was ordained a Jesuit priest in 1941. He spent his early career in parishes and schools in Jamaica, and later in multiple parishes in the Diocese of Portland. According to media reports, in 2000, a woman alleged Fr. Dooley sexually abused her as a child in 1965. Details regarding the nature of the abuse and the age of the alleged victim at the time of the incident were not released.

The Maine Attorney General’s Office received an allegation of child sexual abuse that occurred from 1956-1964 against Fr. Dooley in 2002. The female victim alleged that he repeatedly sexually abused her at her home and at his mother’s home in Cape Cod beginning when she was 3 years old. The alleged abuse included inappropriate touching and masturbation. According to the victim, Fr. Dooley had a close relationship with her parents and the abuse would happen when they were at home. The priest allegedly abused her under the cover of blanket or would lure her into different rooms in the home away from her parents.

Fr. Dooley was publicly named on the Northeast Province Jesuit’s list of clergy with credible allegations of sexual abuse of minor in January of 2019.

He died in 1983.

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