Fr. Russell Gerald Appleby

Order: MSF
Ordained: 1966
Status: Guilty plea

Diocese: Diocese of St. Petersburg FL

Also known as Gerald Russell Appleby. In 1994 a young man accused Appleby of molestation over a 2-year period. Suit filed in 1996; later dropped. Appleby left St. Petersburg in 1979; Diocese said no knowledge of complaints until 1994. Order paid the accuser $4,800 for therapy in 1995. Removed by Order in 1990 or 1991; laicized in 1995. Arrested in TX on FL abuse charges in 3/2003. Pleaded guilty in 2004; sentenced to 12 years prison and 20 years sex offender probation. Died in prison in 2005. On the Corpus Christi diocese’s list 1/31/2019. It notes removal from ministry in the diocese in 1983.


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