Rev. Robert A. Torres

Assignment Record– Rev. Robert A. Torres

Summary of Case: Robert A. Torres was a priest of the Diocese of Little Rock, ordained in 1966. He assisted at a number of parishes in Little Rock before being named lead priest at a Malvern parish, and subsequently in Little Rock, Hope and Ashdown. Torres was longtime chair of the Diocesan Liturgical Commission and director of the Mexican-American Spanish Center. He retired in 1995. After 2002 Torres is no longer indexed in the Official Catholic Directory.

In September 2016 the diocese announced that it had recently met with two people who were sexually abused by Torres over 35 years previously, while Torres was assigned to Our Lady of Good Counsel in Little Rock. The two were members of the parish; one of them was referred to as a "youth" at the time of the abuse. The diocese stated further that, per Torres' admission and its own investigation, Torres likely abused at least two or three other young people.

Ordained: 1966
Retired: 1995
Laicized: after 2002, before 2016

Start	Stop	Assignments	Town/Accusations	State	Position	Notes
1966 Diocese of Little Rock Bishop was Albert Lewis Fletcher (1946-1972).	1967	St. John's Home Missions Seminary	North Little Rock	AR
1967	1971	Our Lady of Good Counsel	Little Rock	AR	3/3	Our Lady of Good Counsel had a school with 406-388 students.
1971	1972	St. Mary's	North Little Rock	AR	2/2; In residence	St. Mary's had a school with 170 students.
1972 Fletcher was succeeded as Little Rock bishop by Andrew Joseph McDonald (1972-2000).	1974	St. Andrew's Cathedral	Little Rock	AR	5/5, 3/3; In residence
1967	1975	Catholic High School	Little Rock	AR		Catholic High School had 514-752 students.
1973 1981	1980 1989	Diocesan Liturgical Commission	Little Rock	AR	Chairman 1973-1980, 1981-1986; Consultant 1986-1989
1974	1975	Immaculate Conception	Little Rock	AR	2/2	Immaculate Conception had a school with 279 students.
1975	1976	Our Lady of Good Counsel	Little Rock • In September 2016 the diocese announced that a person had recently disclosed abuse as a youth by Torres while Torres was assigned to Our Lady of Good Counsel, over 35 years previously. During its investigation, the diocese found a second victim. Both victims were Our Lady of Good Counsel parishioners. The diocese said that Torres likely sexually abused at least two or three other young people, per Torres' own admission.	AR	3/3	Our Lady of Good Counsel had a school wiht 373 students.
1975 1981	1980 1987	Mexican-American Spanish Center	Little Rock	AR	Coordinator
1976	1980	Christ the King	Little Rock	AR	3/3
1980	1981	Absent for Reasons of Health
1981	1982	Christ the King	Little Rock	AR	2/2
1982	1984	St. John the Baptist	Malvern	AR	1/1	The Directories index Torres' first name as "Roberto" beginning with the 1983 Directory.
1984	1989	St. Mary's	Little Rock	AR	1/1, 1/3, 1/2	St. Mary's had a school with 274-199 students.
1989	1990					Torres' name is indexed in the 1990 Directory, but without an assignment. He is not listed in the Little Rock pages as at his previous or next assignments.
1990	1992	St. Henry's	Rector	AR	1/1	This was a mission of St. Mary's in Paragould.
1992	1993					Torres is not indexed in the 1993 Directory, nor is he listed in the Little Rock pages as at his previous or next assignments.
1993	1994	Our Lady of Good Hope	Hope	AR	1/1
1993	1994	St. Elizabeth Ann Seton	Ashdown	AR		This was a mission of Our Lady of Good Hope in Hope.
1994	1995					Torres is not indexed in the 1995 Directory, nor is he listed in the Little Rock pages as at his previous or next assignments.
1995 James Peter Sartain followd McDonald as Little Rock bishop (2000-2006).	2002	Retired	Little Rock	AR		Torres is not indexed beyond the 2002 Directory. At some point, before 2016, Torres was laicized.

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.

Sources: Official Catholic Directory (Kenedy & Sons, 1967-2002).

• Diocese Reports Sexual Abuse by Ex-priest, Roman Catholic Diocese of Little Rock, September 8, 2016
• Former Priest Accused of Sexual Abuse, Arkansas Matters, September 8, 2016
• Little Rock Catholic Diocese Reports Sexual Abuse by Former Priest, By Brandon Riddle, Arkansas Online, September 8, 2016
• Bishop Acknowledges Sexual Abuse by Former Priest in Diocese of Little Rock, KATV, September 9, 2016

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 Torres's career history as it is represented in the Official Catholic Directory with the allegations against him, as reported in the media. We make no representation regarding the truth of the allegations 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 October 27, 2016.