Fr. Jeffrey Salwach
Placed on leave in 5/2003 after he was accused, along with another friar, of abusing a boy, ages 9-13, at St. Jude in New Lenox 1974-1978. The two Franciscans were said to have forced the boy into oral and group sex, drink alcohol and smoke marijuana. Salwach was a Franciscan brother and teacher at the time of the abuse. After his accuser filed suit in 2004, Salwich was sent for evaluation, where he admitted to fondling the boy and “a number of [other] minors” in the 1970s. The lawsuit settled. Per the Franciscans in 2005, “There is no reason to suspect Jeffrey to be a risk for offending minors.” After ordination Salwach worked in Quincy IL, Galena AK, Parma and Cleveland OH, Joliet IL, San Antonio TX and Ruston LA. Still shown as an active priest per Catholic Times 5/10/2009. Reportedly in 11/2011, Salwach had recently been assigned to work at LaVerna Friary in a residential neighborhood in St. Louis, MO. Dismissed from the Order in 4/2016. Remains a priest in 5/2023. Included in the IL Attorney General’s 5/23/2023 report. On the Franciscans’ Our Lady of Guadalupe Province list of credibly accused as of 1/2024. (Member of the Sacred Heart Province.) Noted to have left the Province and Order 4/9/2016.
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