Report on clergy sex abuse includes 22 priests who served at area churches

May 24—SPRINGFIELD — A new report by Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul identifying hundreds of Catholic priests and religious brothers as child sex abusers includes 22 who served at 24 area churches or schools.

The 700-page report, released Tuesday, was the conclusion of more than four years of investigation by the attorney general's office.

A solemn Raoul, who prefaced his comments by saying he was raised Catholic, called the report "a long time coming."

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"I was raised and confirmed in the Catholic church and sent my children to Catholic schools," he said. "I believe the church does important work to support vulnerable populations. However, as with any presumably reputable institution, the Catholic church must be held accountable when it betrays the public's trust."

Raoul praised the courage of the survivors who came forward and said he hopes the report will provide some closure "by shining a light on those who violated their positions of power and trust and on the individuals in church leadership who covered up that abuse."

In all, the report includes information about 451 Catholic clergy members and religious brothers who abused at least 1,997 children across all six dioceses in Illinois.

There were 51 clergy members identified as sex abusers in the Diocese of Peoria, which takes in 26 counties, among them Champaign and Vermilion.

In many cases, the priests identified have died, and they served at numerous parishes before their deaths.

Raoul's office said the survivor narratives demonstrated a troubling pattern of the church failing to support survivors and ignoring or covering up reports of abuse, but as a result of the investigation, dioceses in Illinois have adopted uniform policies to improve how they handle alleged cases of child sex abuse.

Following are the 22 identified clergy members who served at churches or schools across the area:

Walter Breuning:

* Formerly served at St. Patrick, Urbana; five reported survivors; abuse reported in the 1960s and 1970s in Pekin and at unknown dates in Henry County; retired in 1999, removed from the ministry in 2002; died in 2009.

Louis Condon:

* Formerly served at St. Mary, Pesotum; six reported survivors; abuse reported from 1958-2000, location unknown; retired in 1986; died in 2009; placed on Catholic Church public lists Nov. 29, 2018.

Eugene Costa:

* Served at St. John the Baptist, Arcola, in 1976; two reported survivors; abuse reported in 2004 in Douglas Park, Springfield; absent on leave from 2005-07; laicized in 2007; placed on church public lists Nov. 29, 2018; died in 2021.

Robert Creager:

* Served at St. Mary, Pesotum, and St. John the Baptist, Clinton; two reported survivors; reported abuse in DeWitt County in 1956 and LaSalle County in 1972-82; retired in 1998; removed from ministry in 2002; died in 2008; placed on church public lists Nov. 29, 2018.

Philip J. Dedera:

* Served at St. Mary, Paxton, and St. Joseph Mission, Loda; seven reported survivors; abuse reported in DuPage County from 1970-72, Will County 1972-76, St. Pius X, Lombard, 1975-79, St. Walter, Roselle, 1979-80 and early 1980s; removed from ministry in 2002; placed on church public lists April 9, 2006.

Paul F. Dinan:

* Served at St. Mary, Paxton, and St. Joseph Mission, Loda; at least one survivor; date and location of reported abuse unknown in Kankakee County; died in 1996; placed on church public lists March 4, 2013.

Francis Engels:

* Served at St. John, Champaign, in 1962 and St. Mary, Champaign, in 1965; five survivors reported; abuse reported in McLean County from 1971-73, Bureau County, 1976-1984, unknown dates in Henry and Tazewell counties and unknown dates in the states of Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin; removed from ministry in 1993; pleaded guilty to sexual abuse of a teenager in Wisconsin in 2005 and sentenced to 10 years in prison; died in 2019.

William Isermann:

* Served at St. Anthony, Hoopeston, in 1959; three reported survivors; reported abuse from the 1950s to 1970s in LaSalle and Tazewell counties; removed from ministry in 1993; died in 1996; placed on church public lists March 2019.

Goerge Kromenaker:

* Served at Sacred Heart, Villa Grove, from 1968-69; at least one reported survivor; abuse reported in 1967, location unknown; retired in 2006; died in 2010; placed on church public lists Nov. 29, 2018.

M. Duane Leclercq:

* Served at St. John, Clinton, in 1983; three reported survivors; year of reported abuse unknown in Peoria County; placed on church public lists Nov. 29, 2018; removed from ministry in 2018.

Edward Lohan:

* Served at Danville's St. Patrick, Schlarman High School and St. Elizabeth Hospital, all in 1948; three reported survivors; reported abuse in 1948 and 1958-60 in Vermilion and Knox counties; died in 1993; placed on church public lists in July 2019.

Thomas Miller:

* Served at Schlarman High School, Danville, in 1983 and St. Paul, Danville, in 1988; four reported survivors; reported abuse from 1979-82 and 1999-2000 in McLean County; removed from ministry in 2004; placed on church public lists Nov. 29, 2018.

Gordon Pillon:

* Served at St. John Chapel, Champaign, St. John the Baptist, Clinton, Sacred Heart, Farmer City, and St. John, Bellflower; two reported survivors; reported abuse from 1978-84 in Orange, Calif.; removed from ministry in 2006; died in 2012; placed on church public lists Nov. 29, 2018, and Dec. 29, 2019.

Jerome "Jerry" Pilon:

* Served at St. Anthony, Hoopeston, in 1992; six survivors reported; abuse reported from 1997 to 2003 in Texas and Michigan; removed from ministry in 2009; placed on church public lists Nov. 29, 2018.

Ronald W. Roth:

* Served as director of House of Prayer, Urbana, in 1976; three reported survivors; abuse reported from 1968-72 in New Mexico; removed from ministry in 1993; died in 2009; placed on church public lists Sept. 12, 2017, and March 2019.

Frances Lee Ryan:

* Served at St. Edmund, Watseka; two reported survivors; abuse reported at St. Anne in Crest Hill, Michigan City, Ind., and Joliet Catholic Academy, all from 1975-77; removed from ministry in 2010; placed on church public lists March 4, 2013; died in 2016.

John J. Ryan:

* Served at St. John, Clinton, 1963; one reported survivor; reported abuse in DeWitt County in 1963; placed on church public lists Aug. 26, 2019; died in 2000.

Laurence Schumacher:

* Served at St. Patrick, Danville, in 1934; at least one reported survivor; reported abuse in Marshall County in 1966; retired in 1978; died in 1980; placed on church public lists July 2019.

Bernard Tomaszewski:

* Served at St. Patrick, Danville, St. Boniface, Seymour, St. Patrick, Tolono, St. Elizabeth, Thomasboro; at least one reported survivor; abuse reported in 1946, location unknown; removed from ministry in 1946; date of death unknown; placed on church public lists March 2019.

William D. Virtue:

* Served at Sacred Heart, Farmer City, and St. John, Bellflower; at least three reported survivors; abuse reported in 1968, 1970s and 1986, locations all unknown, and 1981-82 at St. Mary, Mokena; removed from ministry in 2006; placed on church public lists March 3, 2013, Nov. 14, 2018, and Nov. 29, 2018.

Oliver T. Walsh:

* Served at St. Peter, Piper City, and Immaculate Conception, Roberts; at least one survivor; date and location of reported abuse unknown; died in 1975; placed on church public lists March 4, 2013, by diocese of Joliet.

Walter Weerts: Served at Sacred Heart, Villa Grove, St. Michael, Hume, and St. Thomas Aquinas, Brocton, all from 1972-78; 22 reported survivors; abuse reported at St. Thomas in Edwardsville from 1964-68, Collinsville, 1964-70, Granite City, 1967-68, St. Paul in Highland in the 1970s, Sacred Heart in Villa Grove, 1975-76, St. Thomas in Decatur, 1978-81, location unknown, 1978-82 and dates unknown in St. Louis, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Tennessee. Weerts resigned from Sacred Heart, Villa Grove, St. Michael, Hume, and St. Thomas, Brocton, in 1978; resigned in 1985 from St. Brigid, Liberty, and St. Thomas, Camp Point, and was granted a leave of absence for health reasons; pleaded guilty in Illinois to sexually abusing three boys in 1986 and was sentenced to six years in prison; removed from the ministry by request and was laicized in 1989.