UNITED STATES
BishopAccountability.org
Summary of Case: Richard Powers was ordained for the Owensboro diocese in 1959 and went on to assist in and pastor parishes throughout the diocese. He left Kentucky in 1982 to serve as a military chaplain in Alaska, Virginia, New York, Washington DC, and Florida. He returned to Owensboro and parish work in 1989. Powers also served in the diocese as a Consultor and member of the Priests’ Council and Priests’ Personnel Committee. In 1995 a woman reported to the diocese that she had been sexually abused as a girl between 1962-1970 by Powers and two other priests. Powers denied the allegations; Bishop McRaith arranged payment for three psychiatric hospitalizations for the woman. In 1999 she received a confidential settlement from the diocese. She died by suicide in May 2003. The woman’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the diocese and returned the settlement in November 2003. As of July 2006 the lawsuit was ongoing; a diocesan attorney stated that an investigation determined that the allegations were “frivolous.” Powers retired in 2007. In November 2015 he remains active in the diocese.
Born: October 6, 1932
Ordained: 1959
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