Father Robert Lochner
Archdiocese of Baltimore
Ordained: 1956
Died: 1967
Assignment History:
- 1956-1958: Sacred Heart Church (Glyndon, MD)
- 1958-1964: Our Lady of Good Counsel (Locust Point, MD)
- 1962: Southern Area of the Archdiocesan Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (Baltimore, MD)
- 1964-1967: Church of St. Clement Mary Hofbauer (Rosedale, MD)
- 1967: Immaculate Heart of Mary Church (Baltimore, MD)
- 1967: 29th Infantry Division (Maryland National Guard)
- 1967: Catholic Youth Organization (North County, MD)
Summary of Sexual Abuse Allegations Against Father Robert Lochner:
Fr. Robert Lochner was ordained a Catholic priest and worked in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, Maryland. In 2019, Fr. Lochner was listed on the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s Credibly Accused of Sexual Abuse of Minors list. In April 2023, Maryland’s Attorney General released a report alleging 156 Catholic clergy members sexually abused at least 600 children over six decades. The report lists the names of the abusers, including Father Robert Lochner.
According to the Attorney General’s report, in 2002, a man reported being sexually abused by Father Robert Lochner in 1962 when he was an 11-year-old altar boy and student at St. Clement in Rosedale, Maryland. He claimed that Fr. Lochner took him on a boat ride and sexually abused him. The victim refused to go again. The victim said his father reported the abuse then, and Lochner was reassigned the next day.
That same year, another man reported that Fr. Lochner sexually abused him for roughly four years, beginning when he was 8. The victim was an altar boy at St. Clement and Fr. Lochner invited him to eat breakfast in the rectory between Masses. Lochner rubbed the victim’s genitals on many occasions, hugged him, and grabbed his thighs. The man said Lochner had a reputation for such conduct.
Also, in 2002, another man accused Lochner of sexually assaulting him when he was approximately 14 years old. The man knew of three other victims. In 2008, a man reported he was sexually abused by Lochner between the ages of 13 and 18 in 1962 until 1967. The abuse escalated from fondling to oral rape and repeated attempts of anal rape. Lochner also forced the victim to kiss him and stuck his tongue in the victim’s ear. The abuse occurred in the sacristy of St. Clement, in Lochner’s car, at his shore home, and on weekend trips. When the boy cried or resisted, Lochner threatened to ruin the reputation of his parents in the church if he told anyone and said that no one would believe him. The victim said he notified the archdiocese many years earlier. In May 2009, the archdiocese entered a settlement with the victim for $88,500.00.
In late 2010, a man reported being sexually abused by Fr. Lochner. The abuse occurred around 1962 when the victim was a 10-year-old student at Our Lady of Good Counsel School in Locust Point. He was in the altar boy choir, run by Lochner. His parents asked Lochner to speak with him because the victim had anxiety. He met him in the church hall, and Lochner forced him to fondle him and forcibly kiss him with his tongue. The victim recalled at least eight occurrences of abuse in the sacristy, church basement, rectory office, music room, and in Lochner’s bedroom. In one instance, in the rectory bedroom, Lochner was naked. Lochner would call the victim’s house and ask him to come over. The abuse lasted four to five months, at which point the victim refused to come when Lochner called. The archdiocese entered a settlement with the victim for $55,000 in 2013.
In 2018, a woman interviewed by the Office of the Attorney General reported Lochner sexually abused her deceased brother in 1960 and 1961 while he was in middle school. The abuse occurred at Our Lady of Good Counsel, and she believed there were two other victims but didn’t know their names.
In 1967, Fr. Lochner died in a car accident while on a trip to the beach with four boys. One of the boys was also killed.
Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims and survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and other clergy in the Archdiocese of Baltimore in Maryland. If you need a lawyer because you were sexually abused by a priest in Maryland, contact our office today. Our lawyers have decades of experience representing survivors of clergy sexual abuse nationwide. We can help. Contact us at 888-283-9922 or [email protected] to discuss your options today.