August 05, 2005

New Reports Of Abuse Against Former Colorado Priest

DENVER (CO)
TheDenverChannel.com

POSTED: 4:58 pm MDT August 5, 2005

DENVER -- A former Roman Catholic priest now living in Denver faces a growing number of claims he sexually abused boys when he served in Colorado parishes between 1960 and 1993.

Twelve men so far this year have told The Denver Post they were abused by H. Robert White, 72, when they were children. Some told the newspaper they reported the allegations as early as the 1960s, only to watch White move to other parishes.

Lynn Boersma of Steamboat Springs said Friday that her brother, Marlin Black, was a 13th victim who was abused in the early 1960s when White was a pastor in Denver. Black died last year.

White could not be located for comment; there is no telephone listing for him and a woman reached at a home where he had been living said he had left. He has told the Post he does not remember the alleged victim who was the first to speak with the newspaper, and has declined to answer whether he was ever accused of abuse.

The Archdiocese of Denver does not comment on assault allegations, but has said it addresses complaints seriously, offers counseling and reports cases to law-enforcement officers. White has not been a priest since 1993, a decade before the nation's priest abuse scandal erupted.

Posted by kshaw at August 5, 2005 08:41 PM