JOLIET (IL)
The Herald News
1978: The Rev. Gary Berthiaume, who served with Imesch at Our Lady of Sorrows in Michigan, is convicted and sent to prison for sexually abusing a boy. Later, Berthiaume transfers to Cleveland where he faces more abuse allegations, then is accepted by Imesch into the Joliet Diocese in 1987 and placed in ministry as a hospital chaplain.
1980: Parishioners from Lombard write to Imesch, urging him to remove then-priest Lawrence Gibbs because of the priest's conduct with young boys. Imesch writes back, saying police found no evidence of wrongdoing. Imesch transfers Gibbs to several other parishes before pulling him from ministry after a lawsuit is filed in 1993.
1983: A mother confronts Imesch with love letters that the Rev. A.J. Ross sent to her son. Imesch sends Ross to California for counseling, then places him at three more parishes over the next decade. In 1993, the son confronts Imesch, who sends Ross to California to serve as a prison chaplain.
In the wake of publicity in 2002, Ross is removed and apologizes for molesting the boy.