Joliet Diocese List of Credibly Accused Abusers Includes Former Plainfield Pastor

By Shannon Antinori
The Patch
March 14, 2013

http://plainfield.patch.com/articles/joliet-diocese-list-of-credibly-accused-abusers-includes-former-plainfield-pastor

In addition to the thousands of pages to be released detailing decades of abuse at the hands of Catholic priests in the Joliet Diocese, the organization Tuesday also released an updated list of credibly accused abusers.

The list includes former St. Mary Immaculate Pastor Charles Van Duren. The accusations were brought to light after Van Duren's death in 1997, according to the diocese. He served as pastor of the Plainfield parish from 1982 to 1995.

The names also include Alejandro Flores, a newly ordained priest from Shorewood's Holy Family Parish. In 2010, Flores apparently attempted suicide by leaping from the balcony of an abandoned Joliet church. He survived and eventually pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a young boy over a five-year period.

The list now stands at 34. According an NBC5 report, the list includes the names of priests named in lawsuits and some who already convicted.

Find the updated list here.

As part of a lawsuit settlement also approved Tuesday, the Catholic Diocese of Joliet will release more than 7,000 internal documents that reportedly show that every bishop since the 1950s has been aware of diocese priests sexually abusing children.

The documents include personnel files and other items related to 15 diocese priests accused of sexual abuse over a 50-year period ending in the 1990s. They will be released by plaintiff David Rudofski through his Chicago lawyer, Terrence Johnson, as part of his settlement with the diocese.

Although the diocese bears the Joliet name, it actually encompasses seven counties—Will, DuPage, Grundy, Kendall, Ford, Iroquois and Kankakee.