Rev. Michael SprauerAssignment

Rev. Michael Sprauer

Ordained: 1972

Accused of abusing as many as 20 teenage boys at MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility from 1972-1975. Sued 2002 and 2003. Sprauer has denied the charges. Archdiocese has settled with 15 plaintiffs for total of $600,000 but suit(s) went to trial in May, 2007 against Sprauer and the State of Oregon. Found guilty of abuse of 2 of 3 plaintiffs 5/17/07 and jury awarded $1.4 mil in damages. In 7/07 state agreed to pay $1,050,000 to 14 plaintiffs.

Start	Stop	Assignment	Town/Accusations	State	Position	Notes
Bishop of Portland was Robert Joseph Dwyer (1966-1974)		St. Mary's	Eugene	OR		Served at this parish, per news reports (Oregonian November 12, 2006).
1972 Cornelius Michael Power replaced Dwyer as bishop (1974-1986)	1975	MacLaren School	Woodburn • At least 20 men came forward in the 2000s with allegations that Sprauer sexually abused them as teenagers, while they were in residents of MacLaren in the 1970s. (Statesman Journal [Salem OR] April 29, 2007)	OR	Chaplain	MacLaren School provides residential care for boys, between the ages of 12 and 21, who are committed by juvenile court, per 2008 Oregon state website.
1972	1975	Hillcrest School	Salem	OR	Chaplain	Hillcrest School originally housed girls between 12 and 21 who were committed by the courts to a close custody institution. Per 2008 Oregon state website, the high school is now coeducational.
1975	1980	Women's Correctional Institution	Salem	OR	Chaplain
1980	1983	Oregon State Correctional Institution	Salem	OR	Chaplain
1983 William Joseph Levada replaced Power as bishop (1986-1995)	1986	St. Mary's	Corvallis	OR	1/2 Assistant to Sprauer 1983-1984 was Rev. Stephen A. Stobie, and 1984-1986, the assistant priest was Rev. Terrence M. Joy.
1986	1987	?	?	?		The 1987 Directory does not index or list Sprauer.
1987 Francis Eugene George replaced Levada as bishop (1996-1997), and George was replaced by John George Vlazny (1997- )	1999	Oregon State Correctional Institution	Salem	OR	Chaplain	The 1988 Directory does not index Sprauer, but lists a Rev. Michael "Sprayer" in the Portland diocesan pages at the Oregon State Correctional Institution.
1987	1999	Oregon Women's Correctional Institution	Salem	OR	Chaplain	The 1988 Directory does not index Sprauer, but lists a Rev. Michael "Sprayer" in the Portland diocesan pages at the Oregon Women's Correctional Institution.
1999	2000	St. Joseph's	Salem	OR	2/3 Pastor was Rev. Carl Gimpl. Third priest was Rev. Joseph Betschart.	Parish had a school with 262 students, and a religious ed. program with 375 students.
1999	2000	San Jose	Salem	OR		San Jose was a mission of St. Joseph's.
2000	2001	?	?	?		Sprauer is not indexed or listed in the 2001 Directory.
2001	2002	St. Boniface	Sublimity	OR	1/1	The 2002 Directory indexes and lists at St. Boniface a "Rev. Michael W. Spraver", ordained in 1972.
2002	2003	St. Joseph's	Salem	OR	2/3 Pastor was Rev. Carl Gimpl. Third priest was James Coleman.	Parish had a school with 218 students, and a religious ed. program with 334 students.
2002	2003	San Jose	Salem	OR		San Jose was a mission of St. Joseph's.
	2003	St. Edward	Keizer	OR		Served at this parish, according to news reports (Statesman Journal [Oregon] October 6, 2004).
2003	2007	Absent on leave	• Placed on administrative leave in 2003 due to allegations of having sexually abused boys in the 1970s at MacLaren School. (The Oregonian [Oregon] June 10, 2003)			The 2004, 2005, and 2006 Directories index Sprauer as "Board Members; Absent on leave."

Source: Official Catholic Directory (New York: Kenedy & Sons, 1973-2007).

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 & 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.