Father Gabriel Patil
Ordained: 1972
Assigned as follows:
- 1973-1983: Bethlehem Catholic High School (Bethlehem, PA)
- 1984-2006: James Church (Ontario, Canada)
Summary of Sexual Abuse Allegations Against Fr. Gabriel Patil:
Fr. Gabriel Patil was ordained a priest a priest of the Barnabite Fathers religious order in 1972, who served in the Diocese of Allentown. According to media reports, he was accused of sexually abusing five children while serving Bethlehem Catholic High School during the late 1970s and early 1980s when the victims were seven to nine years old.
Correspondence between the Diocese and the Barnabites shows that, in 2003, a victim reported to the Diocese that Fr. Patil abused him and four of his friends on school property. The victim stated that Patil would invite the boys into his residence to play hide and seek, where Patil would then engage in sexual acts.
Lawsuits were filed but ultimately dismissed since the statutory limits had expired. At the time the abuse was reported, and lawsuits filed, Patil was a Provincial Superior at St. James in Ontario, Canada.
Patil served as a priest in the Dioceses of Buffalo, New York, Youngstown, Ohio, and then with a delegation in India's country. In 2010, Patil requested that he be allowed to return to the Diocese of Allentown and exercise his public ministry, which was denied.
According to a list maintained by Bishop Accountability.org, Father Patil, was accused of sexually abusing an 8-year-old altar boy on one occasion in approximately 1992. The alleged abuse occurred inside the
Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Northampton, Pennsylvania, where Father Patil occasionally filled in as a priest. Under the guise of helping the boy put on his altar boy robes for Mass, Father Patil reached inside the boy's pants and fondled the boy's penis and testicles, skin-on skin. The claim settled in 2020.
In 2018, he was named publicly as accused in the PA Grand Jury report.
Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims and survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and other clergy in the Diocese of Allentown. If you need a lawyer because you were sexually abused by a priest in Pennsylvania, contact our office today. Although many years have passed, those abused by Catholic clergy in the Diocese of Allentown may have legal options against the Diocese of Allentown.
Contact us at 888-283-9922 or [email protected] to discuss your options today.