Fr. Lehr J. Barkenquest
Died 1/4/2019. Named in a lawsuit filed in 8/2019 as having sexually abused a male student in the early to mid-1970s at St. Francis DeSales High School in Lockport, NY. Barkenquest’s accuser claims he told a school administrator at the time, but nothing was done. Worked in the Diocese of Lansing MI 1991-2013. Per the MI Attorney General’s Lansing report, in 2018 a man reported that Barkenquest abused him while assigned to St. Rita’s in Clarklake, MI beginning when the man was a 14-year-old boy and through adulthood. The man emailed the A.G.’s tipline in 4/2020, reporting that Barkenquest fondled him from age 13-23. Further, the man said he had learning and other cognitive disabilities, and that he reported the abuse in 12/2018 and didn’t know if anything was done. The in 3/2020 the diocese deemed the allegation credible and added Barkenquest’s name to its list.
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