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The Scale of the Betrayal
There are scandals in history that eventually fade from memory. Then there are scandals so vast, so gut wrenching, and so morally corrosive that they remain etched into the conscience of every community they touched. The Catholic priest abuse crisis in the Utica and Syracuse region of New York belongs in that second category. This was not a matter of a few isolated predators. This was an institutional betrayal that stretched across decades, parishes, and entire towns, leaving a trail of wounded children and shattered families.
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s in Central New York, boys who should have been safe in the pews, at the altar, in classrooms, or on scouting trips, were instead preyed upon by the very men who wore collars and called themselves shepherds of Christ. The sheer number of accusations that have surfaced in Utica, Rome, New Hartford, Holland Patent, and the surrounding Syracuse area is staggering. It is no longer possible for anyone to argue that these cases were rare or exceptional. The record is clear. The pattern is undeniable. What took place was widespread, organized, and hidden by layers of silence and clerical authority.
The Diocese of Syracuse itself has now been forced to admit what survivors were crying out about for years. Its official list of “credibly accused” priests is not a short page but a scroll of shame that runs long enough to shock even the most hardened observer. Each name on that list represents years of betrayal, and behind each name stands not one victim but often many. When New York State opened the Child Victims Act window in 2019, survivors poured forward, their stories finally able to be told in court without being strangled by expired statutes of limitation. Within a year the Diocese was facing more than one hundred sixty lawsuits. By 2023, it announced it would contribute one hundred million dollars toward a global settlement, and by 2025 insurers had added tens of millions more, bringing the projected total close to one hundred eighty million. That figure is not just financial accounting. It is a price tag on the silenced suffering of hundreds of boys who grew up carrying scars that could never fully heal.
Pull Quote from Facebook user:
“The sheer number of claims is not evidence of a few mistakes. It is evidence of a system that enabled predators and buried the truth.”
For many years, those who dared to speak up were shunned, dismissed, or ignored. The Church acted not as a protector but as a fortress, defending its own power instead of defending its children. In parish after parish, when complaints emerged, priests were quietly reassigned rather than removed. Silence was demanded, and obedience was enforced. Parents who trusted that the men in black robes were safe role models would later find out their children had been placed in harm’s way.
The 1980s and 1990s were particularly toxic years because of the culture of secrecy that reigned inside the Diocese. This was before the Boston Globe’s Spotlight investigation in 2002, before national attention finally pulled the curtain back. In Utica and Syracuse, abuse was already rampant, but the public did not yet know it. The predators did, however. They knew the system would protect them. They knew parishioners would hesitate to believe children over clergy. They knew the Diocesan leadership would look the other way or quietly send them off to another parish, where the cycle of betrayal could begin again.
The result was nothing less than generational devastation. Boys who were supposed to be altar servers, choir members, students, or scouts became victims of trauma at the hands of men who should have been spiritual fathers. Many grew into adults haunted by memories they tried to bury, only to watch as their abusers continued to be honored and protected by an institution that claimed to speak for God. The emotional wreckage still ripples outward. Some turned to drugs or alcohol to cope. Some took their own lives. Families fell apart under the weight of guilt, silence, and broken trust.
Pull Quote from Facebook user:
“This was not a scandal contained in one parish. It was a plague that spread across the Mohawk Valley and into Syracuse itself.”
What makes this story even more unbearable is how openly it was hidden. Notre Dame High School in Utica, once celebrated for its academic and Catholic excellence, now stands with a dark cloud because its principal during the 1980s admitted to abusing a teenage boy on campus. Local parishes like St. Peter’s in North Utica and St. Leo’s in Holland Patent were places where young people should have found safety but instead faced predators in robes. Diocesan programs that involved Boy Scouts became another avenue for exploitation. The predators were not fringe figures. They were men in charge of schools, parishes, and youth ministries. They were trusted with the souls of children and instead used that trust as cover for predation.
The survivors who have stepped forward since 2019 tell remarkably similar stories. They describe being singled out, groomed with special attention, invited into situations where the priest held all the power, and then assaulted in ways that left them silent and ashamed. Many said they did not speak at the time because they felt no one would believe them, or because they were told by Church authority to keep quiet. The culture of obedience and reverence around priests was the perfect camouflage for abusers.
And now the floodgates have opened. The Diocese of Syracuse is not just reckoning with its past. It is drowning in it. Its bankruptcy filing in 2020 was not a financial strategy. It was an admission of guilt written in the language of civil law. Each settlement dollar is proof that the survivors were right. Each name on the list of credibly accused is proof that the cover up was systematic. Each lawsuit filed is a story of pain that was denied for far too long.
Pull Quote from Facebook user:
“Behind every lawsuit is not just a case number. It is a child who cried out and was ignored. It is a family betrayed by the very Church they trusted.”
What makes this particularly mind blowing is not just the sheer number of accused priests, but the fact that so many of them operated in such a relatively small geographic region. Utica is not New York City. Syracuse is not Los Angeles. These are smaller communities where the Catholic Church held even greater cultural sway. And yet the list of priests who betrayed their vows is long enough to fill entire pages of diocesan reports. The sheer density of accusations in this region is almost beyond belief. It suggests not a few exceptions but a culture that permitted and concealed abuse as long as the institution was preserved.
This is why the survivors continue to speak out. They are not driven by money or vengeance. They are driven by the need for truth. They want the world to know what was done in their small towns and in their sacred churches. They want the record to show that what happened in the 1980s and 1990s in Utica and Syracuse was not an accident or a misunderstanding. It was systemic betrayal.
Pull Quote from Facebook user:
“The Church told us to believe in confession, forgiveness, and mercy. Yet for decades, it confessed nothing, forgave nothing, and showed mercy only to predators.”
What follows in this exposé is the record itself. The names of the priests who betrayed their vows, the lawsuits that pulled the truth into the light, the diocesan documents that finally admitted what had been hidden, and the staggering financial settlements that show the true cost of silence. It is a grim ledger of betrayal. It is also a testimony to the courage of survivors who, after decades of silence, finally forced an institution to tell the truth.
What the Diocese itself now acknowledges
The Diocese of Syracuse publicly maintains and updates a “List of Clergy with Credible Allegation of Sexual Abuse of a Minor.” The list was first posted on December 3, 2018, and it has been revised many times, including a fresh revision on June 5, 2025. The Diocese describes a credible allegation as one that is natural and plausible, corroborated, or acknowledged by the accused, and it notes that everyone on the list is either removed from ministry or deceased. Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracusefiles.ecatholic.com
The scale in numbers
In December 2018, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse publicly released its initial list of clergy with credible allegations of sexual abuse. That first release included 57 priests, 38 of whom were deceased, leaving 19 still alive but removed from ministry (wrvo.org) Since then, the list has grown, with diocesan updates expanding the roster, but even that starting point alone is staggering for a community the size of Utica–Syracuse, highlighting just how widespread the abuse was within this relatively contained region.
After New York opened the Child Victims Act look back window in 2019, the Diocese filed Chapter 11 in June 2020 to handle hundreds of claims in a single process. By late 2020, press reports tallied 162 abuse claims in the bankruptcy. Survivor and plaintiff sources later estimated the total number of survivor claims at several hundred by 2021. In 2023 the Diocese announced a one hundred million dollar contribution toward a global settlement, with additional insurer settlements in 2025 that survivors say bring the total near one hundred eighty million dollars, pending full plan confirmation. Bishop Accountability || WSTM || Jeff Anderson and Associates || syracusesurvivors.com
Utica and Mohawk Valley focus
Below are cases with direct ties to Utica or immediately surrounding parishes and schools, centering on the eighties and nineties. Dates and assignments come from the Diocese’s list and detailed assignment histories compiled from court and archival records.
Monsignor H. Charles Sewall
Principal at Notre Dame High School in Utica during the late seventies and eighties, and pastor at Our Lady of Lourdes in Utica during the eighties. In 2002 multiple lawsuits were filed. Sewall admitted he “engaged in sexual misconduct” with a teenager while he was a high school principal. Allegations described abuse in a trailer on school grounds and other school locations. He was permanently removed from ministry in 2003 and died in 2015. The Diocese includes him on its credible list. Horowitz Law || Bishop Accountability || files.ecatholic.com
Fr. Donald J. Hebert
Served in Utica parishes throughout the nineties, including St. Luke, St. George, and St. Joseph and St. Patrick. A boy alleged Hebert abused him during a 1990 camping trip while Hebert was a diocesan coordinator for Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. Hebert was removed from parish ministry in 2002 and permanently removed in 2003. Contemporary Post Standard coverage recorded the allegation alongside a related Boy Scout leader prosecution. The Diocese lists Hebert among those with credible allegations. Horowitz Law || Bishop Accountability || files.ecatholic.com
Fr. Felix R. Colosimo
Assignments included St. Peter in Utica, St. Leo in Holland Patent, and Our Lady of the Rosary in New Hartford. The Diocese says it permanently removed him from ministry in 2014 after finding an allegation credible. A 2017 lawsuit alleged abuse in the late eighties at St. Leo in Holland Patent and at St. Peter in North Utica. The Diocese publicly acknowledged the civil suit that year. He died in 2017. He appears by name on the Diocese’s credible list. The Catholic Sun || Lawyers for Survivor Justice|| files.ecatholic.com
Fr. Chester A. Misercola
Served at St. Anthony of Padua in Utica during the sixties and later across the Diocese. A 2002 civil suit alleged abuse beginning in 1986, with prior complaints to the Diocese in the late nineties. He was permanently removed from ministry in 2003. The Diocese includes him on the credible list. Horowitz Law || Bishop Accountability || files.ecatholic.com
Fr. Robert A. Ours
Listed by the Diocese as credibly accused and removed from ministry. Ours pleaded guilty in 2014 to possessing child sexual abuse images and later faced civil allegations of molestation of a child in the early eighties. Assignment histories show a Utica in residence post around 1981, followed by years in Broome County. Bishop Accountability
Fr. William A. Lorenz
The Diocese has him on the credible list. Public filings and reporting say he admitted sexual abuse of a minor and was permanently removed in 2003. Assignment histories place him across Central New York and he served near the Utica Oneida corridor during his career. Jeff Anderson and Associates || Bishop Accountability
Fr. Daniel W. Casey Jr.
Accused of abusing boys in the late eighties. Two civil lawsuits filed in 1992 settled in 1998 for four hundred seventy five thousand dollars. He appears on the diocesan credible list and on compiled assignment histories that include Central New York parishes. Bishop Accountability
Fr. James C. Hayes
Removed from ministry after credible allegations in the early two thousands and listed by the Diocese. Assignment histories include posts in the Syracuse region with ministry spanning into the nineties. files.ecatholic.com
Fr. Albert J. Proud
Removed from ministry after credible allegations and listed by the Diocese. His late nineties assignment included Church of the Annunciation in Clark Mills, a Utica area parish. Jeff Anderson and Associates
There are more names on the Diocese’s own credible list who served in or around Utica during that era, for example Fr. John F. Harrold, credibly accused and noted in records for an arrest related to child pornography in the early eighties with charges dropped after a treatment program, and Fr. James F. Quinn, whose complex procedural history included a temporary diocesan clearance in 2004 but who is now included on the Diocese’s 2025 credible list. The thread through all of this is that the Diocese itself is now publishing these names and statuses. Jeff Anderson and Associates || files.ecatholic.com
Syracuse area cases from the same decades
The Syracuse side of the Diocese also saw a wave of cases tied to the eighties and nineties.
Msgr. Charles H. Eckermann
A longtime diocesan official who served in multiple posts around Syracuse and nearby towns. The Vatican laicized him in 2014 after credible allegations. Lawsuits have linked him to abuse at St. Ann’s in Manlius in the late eighties. He is on the Diocese’s credible list. Jeff Anderson and Associates || Bishop Accountability
Fr. Paul Angelicchio
Named in litigation connected to St. Ann’s in Manlius regarding late eighties incidents. He denied the allegations, was twice placed on leave and later returned to ministry after the diocesan review board said it could not substantiate. He is not on the Diocese’s credible list, but his name appears in the Syracuse litigation record connected to Eckermann and others from that era, which speaks to the large volume of claims that surfaced once the Child Victims Act window opened. Bishop Accountability
Why the eighties and nineties loom so large
Many assignments and alleged incidents cluster in that window, while reporting and accountability often came later. The Boston Globe spotlight in 2002 and the U.S. bishops Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People the same year changed internal processes, and New York’s 2019 Child Victims Act finally allowed survivors whose claims were time barred to file civil suits. The Diocese’s public list and the bankruptcy docket are the evidence trail that shows just how many names eventually surfaced. Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse
What “mind blowing” looks like in hard facts
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The Diocese’s official credible list exists, is current through June 5, 2025, and includes dozens of names with removal, laicization, or death, many tied to Utica and Syracuse parishes and schools. files.ecatholic.com
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Press tallies during the bankruptcy showed more than one hundred sixty claims by December 2020, and plaintiff sources described totals in the several hundreds by 2021. Bishop Accountability || Herman Law
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Monetary commitments toward survivors include a one hundred million dollar diocesan contribution announced in July 2023, plus insurer settlements in 2025 that survivors say lift the total near one hundred eighty million dollars as confirmation nears. WSTM || Jeff Anderson and Associates || syracusesurvivors.com
Source map you can check
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Diocese of Syracuse official list with the June 5, 2025 revision and criteria for what counts as credible. Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse || files.ecatholic.com
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Assignment histories and incident summaries that place Sewall, Hebert, Colosimo, Misercola, Lorenz, and others in Utica area posts during the relevant years. Jeff Anderson and Associates
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Contemporaneous news and archival pages about Sewall’s 2002 admissions and lawsuits tied to Notre Dame High School in Utica. Bishop Accountability
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Coverage of the Boy Scout camping allegation tied to Hebert and the 1990 Post Standard story. Bishop Accountability
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The Diocese’s 2017 acknowledgment of civil litigation regarding Colosimo, and plaintiff summaries that specify St. Leo in Holland Patent and St. Peter in North Utica. The Catholic Sun || Lawyers for Survivor Justice
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Bankruptcy record and settlement reporting since 2020. Stretto Case ||WSTM ||Jeff Anderson and Associates || syracusesurvivors.com
Truth Carved Into Stone
The story of priestly abuse in the Utica and Syracuse region is not just another headline in the national crisis. It is a wound carved deep into the life of Central New York, a scar that families and communities still carry decades later. The facts are there for all to see. The lawsuits, the settlements, the bankruptcy filings, and above all the list of credibly accused priests that the Diocese itself has been forced to release. What was once denied is now undeniable. What was once whispered is now shouted. What was once hidden behind the walls of rectories and chancery offices is now carved into the public record.
No amount of money can erase the devastation that was caused. No courtroom settlement can return innocence to the boys whose lives were shattered. Yet truth still matters. Survivors have forced the Church to speak words it never wanted to say. They have dragged the past into the light and shown the world what really happened inside the very institutions that preached virtue and holiness.
Pull Quote from Facebook user:
“The greatest betrayal was not only the abuse, but the silence that followed. The silence from those who knew, those who covered, those who pretended not to see.”
This scandal proves that sin is not only individual but institutional. The abuse was carried out by priests, but it was enabled by bishops who reassigned them, by colleagues who kept quiet, and by a system that valued the reputation of the Church more than the safety of children. Until that truth is faced without excuse, without soft language, and without the shield of clerical authority, the wounds will never fully heal.
The Diocese of Syracuse can issue statements and publish lists, but the survivors themselves are the living record. They are the ones who endured the long silence, the weight of shame, and the years of disbelief. Their courage to come forward is the reason the truth is known. Their voices cut through decades of denial and remind the world that evil thrives when good men say nothing.
As this region reckons with its past, the question remains whether the Church can ever truly regain the trust it squandered. Faith is not destroyed by the sins of a few. It is destroyed when the sins of many are covered up by those who claim to lead in the name of God. Utica, Syracuse, and every town in between now carry the knowledge of what happened. It will not be forgotten, and it must never be allowed to happen again.
Pull Quote from Facebook user:
“The survivors spoke, the walls cracked, and the truth poured out. Now it is carved into history, and history will not let the Church forget.”
