Summary of Case: A brother of the Dominican order, Karow was accused in 1994 of having violently sexually abused a boy between 1965 and 1968. He worked for 31 years in the Boston Public School system. Archdiocesan officials knew of the accusations in 1994 when Karow was a third grade teacher, but did not notify school officials. Karow retired to Texas in 2001.
| Start | Stop | Assignment | Town/Accusations | State | Position | Notes |
1960s Boston archbishop was Richard James Cushing (1944-1970). |
St. Edward's | Medfield • Karow was accused in 1994 of having violently sexually abused a boy at this parish between 1965-1968. Karow, the Dominicans, and the archdiocesan settled with the accuser in 1996. One incident is said to have occurred at Karow's Cambridge apartment, whereby Karow is said to have held the boy down while another man raped him, then raped him himself. |
MA | |||
| 1960s | St. Stephen's Priory | Dover • Some of the abuse of the aforementioned boy is said to have taken place at the priory between 1965-1968. |
MA | |||
| 1966 | 1997 | Boston Public Schools | Boston | MA | elementary school teacher | When Sr. Rita McCarthy, whose job it was to take clergy sexual abuse complaints for the archdiocese, received the reports about Karow, she remembered she had once worked with him at Grew School in Hyde Park. Fr. Brian Flatley, who was the archdiocesan clergy personnel secretary, happened to be working at Grew School at the same time as Karow in 1994. Flatley knew of the accusations against Karow, but did not notify Boston Public School officials. Karow's accuser said Sr. Rita told him that if they told the school the nuns involved there might be taken away and, "We'll have the nuns keep an eye on him." Karow was known in 2002 to have moved to Texas from Boston in 2001. |
Sources:
• Attorneys Release Records on 10 More Priests, Brothers, By Michael Rezendes and Matt Carroll, Boston Globe, December 17, 2002
• Newly Released Files Identify More Alleged Abusive Priests, By Robin Washington and Marie Szaniszlo, Boston Herald,
December 17, 2002
• The Missing Names From Cardinal O'Malley's List of Accused Clerics, Boston Globe, November 20, 2011
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This assignment record was last updated on October 3, 2015.