DUBUQUE (IA)
Telegraph Herald [Dubuque IA]
May 30, 2024
4 people have reported that Riley sexually abused them from 1985 to 1986 while he was associate pastor of Church of the Resurrection in Dubuque.
A former Dubuque priest has pleaded not guilty to charges of child sexual abuse related to his time at a local parish.
The Rev. Leo P. Riley, 68, of Port Charlotte, Fla., recently entered the plea in Iowa District Court of Dubuque County to five counts of second-degree sexual abuse. A trial date has not yet been set in the case.
Court documents state four people have reported that Riley sexually abused them from 1985 to 1986 while he was associate pastor of Church of the Resurrection in Dubuque.
Dubuque police began investigating the reports after being contacted by the Archdiocese of Dubuque’s Office for the Protection of Children in May 2023 about reports the office had received of alleged sexual abuse in Dubuque from the 1980s.
Four victims were identified in the subsequent investigation, all of them altar boys at Resurrection Parish and under age 12 at the time of the alleged abuse.
Each reported being abused by Riley, and documents state two told investigators Riley also forced them to engage in sexual activity with other boys on parish grounds. Riley has denied the allegations.
In Iowa, there is no statute of limitations for criminal charges related to sexual abuse of minors.
Riley was ordained a priest of the Dubuque archdiocese in 1982 and served in the city of Dubuque from 1983 to 1986 before moving on to other parishes within the archdiocese.
He later requested a move to the Diocese of Venice, Fla., in 2002, and became a priest of that diocese in 2005. Officials in both Dubuque and Florida previously stated there were no known accusations against Riley at that time.
Riley has posted bond in the case, though he is not allowed to leave the state of Iowa throughout the remainder of the proceedings per an order from Iowa District Associate Judge Robert Richter.