Assignment Record – Rev. Gerhardt B. Lehmkuhl, s.j.

Summary of Case: A priest of the Missouri Province of the Society of Jesus ordained in 1974, Lehmkuhl worked as a high school teacher before earning a law degree in 1983 and establishing a legal aid center at St. Louis University. In 1995 he was caught ordering a child pornography video; investigators found him to be in possession of seven other such videos. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced in May 1996 to one year in prison. Lehmkuhl returned to the Jesuit Community at St. Louis University, working as a hospital chaplain and eventually resuming his legal aid work. He died March 9, 2012.

Ordained: 1974
Died: March 9, 2012


   

Start Stop Parish/Assignment Town/Accusations State/Country Position Notes

1974

St. Louis archbishop was John Joseph Carberry (1968-1979).

1975 Lewis Memorial St. Louis MO    
1975 1979 DeSmet Jesuit High School St. Louis MO History and Social Studies teacher DeSmet High had 752-810 students, all male.
1979 1980 St. Beuno's St. Asaph Clwyd, Wales, U.K. tertianship  

1980

Carberry was succeeded by John Lawrence May (1980-1992).

1983 St. Louis University St. Louis MO law student  

1983

Justin Francis Rigali replaced May as St. Louis archbishop (1994-2003).

May 1996 St. Louis Jesuit Community - Jesuit Hall

St. Louis

• Lehmkuhl pleaded guilty in Nov. 1995 to ordering a child pornography video. Investigators found a "Young Teen Catalog" and seven other child porn videos in Lehmkuhl's apartment. He was sentenced in May 1996 to one year in prison.

MO legal aid attorney Lehmkuhl checked into a Maryland treatment center after pleading guilty.
May 1996 1997 prison     inmate  
1997   St. Louis Jesuit Community - Jesuit Hall St. Louis MO    
1998 1999 Missouri Province of the Society of Jesus St. Louis MO archives  

1999

Rigali was succeeded by Raymond Leo Burke (2003-2008).

   St. Mary's Health Center St. Louis MO chaplain  

2006

Robert James Carlson replaced Burke (2009-).

2012 St. Louis Jesuit Community - Jesuit Hall St. Louis MO legal aid attorney Lehmkuhl died March 9, 2012.

 

Sources: Official Catholic Directory (New York: P.J. Kenedy and Sons, 1975-2013)

• Jesuit Priest Here Pleads Guilty of Ordering Kiddie Porn Video, By Tim Bryant, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 18, 1995
• Priest to Be Sentenced for Pornography; Could Get 18 Months for Ordering Video of Boys, By Tim Bryant, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 10, 1996
• Priest in Child Porn Case Gets One Year, By Tim Bryant, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 11, 1996
• SNAP Says SLU Shelters Sex Offenders, Challenges Sam Simon, By Chris King, The St. Louis American, May 13, 2009
• Father Gerhardt B. Lehmkuhl, S.J. 1942 – 2012, Jesuits of the Missouri Province
• Obituary | Fr. Gerhardt B. Lehmkuhl, Sj, St. Louis Review, April 04, 2012


Priests in a Parish: We use the following convention to show a priest's place among the clergy of a parish: 1/2 means that he is the first priest listed in the Official Catholic Directory (usually the pastor) and that there is a total of two priests at the parish. The shorthand 3/4 means that the priest is listed third on a four-priest roster. See our sample page from the Directory.

Note: The Official Catholic Directory aims to report the whereabouts of Catholic priests in the United States on January 1 of the Directory's publication year. Our working assumption is that a priest listed in the Directory for a given year was at the same assignment for part of the previous year as well. However, Kenedy and Sons will sometimes accept updates well into the year of publication. Diocesan clergy records are rarely available to correct this information. The Directory is also sometimes misleading or wrong. We have tried to create an accurate assignment record, given the source materials and their limitations. Assignment records are a work in progress and we are always improving the records that we post. Please email us with new information and corrections.

This assignment record collates Lehmkuhl's career history as it is represented in the Official Catholic Directory with allegations as reported in the media. We make no representation regarding the truth of the allegation we report, and we remind our readers that the U.S. legal system presumes that a person accused of or charged with a crime is innocent until proven guilty. Similarly, individuals who may be defendants in civil actions are presumed not to be liable for such claims unless a plaintiff proves otherwise. Admissions of guilt or liability are not typically a part of civil or private settlements. For more information, see our posting policy.

This assignment record was last updated on Jan.17, 2013