PEORIA (IL)
The Journal Star [Peoria IL]
March 17, 2025
By JJ Bullock
Key Points
- A lawsuit filed earlier this month accuses a now-former priest of abusing a boy at a Peoria Catholic church from 1997 to 2003.
- SNAP is asking the diocese and Bishop Louis Tylka to take five steps to condemn the alleged actions.
- A 2023 report detailed how 51 clerics in the Peoria church system had raped, sexually assaulted, molested or harassed children within their diocese.
The Catholic Diocese of Peoria ranks among the “lowest tier” of Catholic dioceses in how it has handled claims of sexual abuse by its clerics, according to one outreach group that is calling it to do more to protect children.
David Clohessy, the former national director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said Monday in Peoria that there are “many, many” clerics from the Catholic Church who have molested children and are still living free with access to minors.
Clohessy includes former Peoria-area priest Thomas Miller as one of those men.
Miller is accused in a lawsuit of sexually abusing Michael Eckert between the years 1997 and 2003 beginning when Eckert was just 8 years old.
The lawsuit, which was filed earlier this month, names Miller and the Catholic Diocese of Peoria as defendants.
Miller was suspended from the ministry in 2004 after the church received “credible allegations” that he had sexually abused a child in Bloomington 25 years prior. Miller was removed from the priesthood by the Vatican in 2006.
Clohessy held a news conference in Peoria on Monday to voice SNAP’s support of Eckert’s lawsuit and to “beg” Peoria Bishop Louis Tylka to recognize Miller as an abuser and do more to help keep children safe.
Tylka said in a statement Monday:
“I have been made aware of a lawsuit alleging an abuse of a minor by Thomas Miller,”Tylka said. “Mr. Miller was removed from ministry in 2004 and removed from the clerical state by the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith in 2010.
We take seriously any accusation that is made of misconduct by a priest, deacon, religious or lay employee. Cooperating with the civil authorities, we investigate such accusations while offering assistance to those who have allegedly been harmed. I am sorry to all those who were/are affected by the sin of abuse. As Bishop of the Diocese of Peoria, I remain committed to promoting the safe environment programs we have in place to provide a safe haven for children and young people. I ask for your ongoing prayers as we continue to work together to safeguard all of God’s people, and especially those who have suffered.”
Miller still lives in Illinois, according to Clohessy, who said he is “worried” that Miller still has access to children.
Clohessy said Monday that not only was Peoria’s diocese among the “lowest tier” in the country for handling these cases but added that Tylka “like all his brother bishops” has helped “cover up” for predators.
SNAP wrote a letter to Tylka, which they slid under the door of the Catholic Diocese of Peoria headquarters on Monday, in which they asked him to take five steps to condemn the alleged actions of Miller and protect children from him.
Those steps included visiting every parish where Miller worked to encourage victims to come forward and contact police; make every priest in the diocese do a verbal pulpit encouraging victims to come forward; ask all church employees to spread the word about Miller; use the news media to spread the word; and send Miller’s complete personal file to police and prosecutors.
Clohessy said Monday that Tylka was “superb at public relations” and has only ever given “short, vague, boilerplate public relations pablum” in his letter.
“This bishop, like so many frankly, has done and continues to do the absolute bare minimum,” Clohessy said. “Frankly, it’s a bit mind boggling. Why he wouldn’t do these simple safety measures even without any prodding.”
In a statement issued to the Journal Star about the lawsuit last week, Tylka said:
“We take seriously any accusation that is made of misconduct by a priest, deacon, religious or lay employee,” Tylka said. “I am sorry to all those who were/are affected by the sin of abuse. As Bishop of the Diocese of Peoria, I remain committed to promoting the safe environment programs we have in place to provide a safe haven for children and young people. I ask for your ongoing prayers as we continue to work together to safeguard all of God’s people, and especially those who have suffered.”
In wake of an extensive report by Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office in 2023, which listed Miller as one of 51 priests with credible claims of sexual abuse against them in the Catholic Diocese of Peoria, Clohessy said he hoped to see more action from Tylka.
The 2023 report detailed how 51 clerics in the Peoria Catholic church system had raped, sexually assaulted, molested or harassed children within their diocese and were often doing so with impunity from leadership in the church.
Later that year a Tazewell County man came forward to the Journal Star with his own claims that he was abused by a priest in the Catholic Diocese of Peoria only to have the church deny and reject his claims after having signaled it would help.