Colorado Sexual Abuse Lawsuits

Colorado Sexual Abuse Assault Information Colorado recently passed new legislation that will give many survivors of child sexual abuse the opportunity to pursue civil justice against their abusers. The new laws eliminate the statute of limitations for survivors whose claims have not expired and opens a three-year revival window for survivors whose abuse occurred on or after January 1, 1960.

Below you will find Colorado lawsuits news & updates, as well as additional information on Colorado’s statute of limitations laws. These laws are important because they dictate how long a lawyer handling a Colorado sexual assault case has to file a claim on behalf of a survivor. In addition, we have compiled a list of Colorado settlements received by sexual abuse and assault survivors and a list of Colorado’s ‘credibly’ accused priests.

Colorado Statute of Limitations for Sexual Abuse & Assault

By 2006, Colorado was leading the way in changes to its criminal statute of limitations (SOL) laws. It eliminated all criminal SOLs for child sex abuse, making it one of the few states at that time to do so. In 2021, the governor signed new laws which would eliminate the civil SOL for some survivors and open a three-year revival window for others.

Criminal Statute of Limitations Laws for Colorado

In 2006, Colorado eliminated the SOLs for all felony sex offenses against children. And in 2019, the state added unlawful electronic sexual communication to its list of felony sex offenses against children for which there is no SOL. Child USA, who has evaluated every state based on their criminal statute of limitations laws, gave Colorado a Criminal SOL a letter grade of C, on the traditional A-F scale, where A is the best. A letter grade of C is defined as a criminal SOL eliminated for some/all felonies only.

Civil Statute of Limitations Laws for Colorado

Colorado’s new civil SOL laws for child sexual abuse eliminate the SOL for victims whose claims have not yet expired under the state’s previous law. The new law also opens a three-year revival window for survivors who suffered sexual abuse as a child on or after January 1, 1960. The revival window opened on January 1, 2022 and closes on December 31, 2024. Child USA, who has also evaluated every state based on their civil statute of limitations laws, gave Colorado a Civil SOL Age Cap letter grade of A, on the traditional A-F scale, where A is the best. A letter grade of A is defined as no civil SOL age cap for all claims and eliminated SOL.

Additionally, Child USA gave Colorado a related SOL Revival Law letter grade of C on the same A-F scale. A letter grade of C is defined as a revival window or revival up to age 30-54, and the law is not explicitly for claims against all types of defendants.

If you or someone you love was sexually abused or assaulted in Colorado, contact us now. Based on Colorado’s new laws, those sexually abused as a minor may still have a claim against their abuser, depending upon when the abuse occurred. Even if the abuser is deceased, you may still have a claim against the organization responsible. Colorado’s revival window closes on December 31, 2024.

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Go to our main sexual abuse page to learn more about the process of filing a priest sexual abuse claim.

Colorado Sexual Abuse Settlements

Over $10 million has been paid out in settlements to victims of priest molestation in Colorado since 2007. Below outlines some of the notable settlements made by the Archdiocese of Denver and the Pueblo Diocese.

January 2007 – The Archdiocese of Denver settled 15 lawsuits for a total of $1.58 million with settlements ranging from $30,000 to $150,000 per case. Rev. Harold Robert White was named as the abuser in 10 of the settled cases. White was defrocked in 2003 and died in 2006 at age 73. Rev. Leonard Abercrombie, who died in 1994, was named in 5 of the settled cases.

July 2008 – The Archdiocese of Denver, lead by Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, settled 18 separate claims for $5,500,000. With one exception, Chaput stated that all of the claims of sexual abuse were limited to 2 deceased priests, Rev. Harold Robert White and Rev. Leonard Abercrombie.

October 2008 – The Pueblo Diocese reached a settlement with 23 former Roncalli High School students for $4,200,000. The claims accused Marianist Brother William Mueller of sedating the students by using ether and then sexually molesting them.

December 2020 – $7.3 million in settlements were paid out by the Catholic Church to over 70 victims of sexual abuse within Colorado parishes following a 22 month investigation by Colorado’s Attorney General.

*The settlements listed above are offered for educational purposes only and do not guarantee any future outcome or settlement. Each legal situation is different, and past performance does not guarantee future results. We do not maintain that is a full list of all settlements in the state of Colorado but merely a grouping of those we choose to share on our website. Please contact us if you would like additional settlements included or if you notice any inaccuracies on our site. We strive to provide our viewers the most up to date and accurate information as possible.

Colorado Catholic Church Clergy Credibly Accused List

In 2019, Colorado’s Attorney General released a list containing the names of clergy members they found to be ‘credibly accused’ of sexual abuse of a child. That list was later updated on December 1, 2020.

The lists below will continue to be updated as litigation or investigations are concluded so that new names of credibly accused priests in Colorado can be added.

Click a link below to navigate directly to that particular clergy abuse list.

Archdiocese of Denver Credibly Accused Priest List
Diocese of Colorado Springs Credibly Accused Priest List
Diocese of Pueblo Credibly Accused Priest List

Archdiocese of Denver Credibly Accused Priest List

wdt_ID	Last Name	First Name	Diocese/Order	Year of Ordination/ Incardination	# of Victims	Year(s) of Alleged Incident(s)	Clergy Status
1	Abercrombie	Leonard	Denver Archdiocese	1946	18	1954-1971	Deceased 1994
2	Banigan	Robert	Denver Archdiocese	1941	1	1961	Deceased 1986
3	Barry	Thomas	Denver Archdiocese	1936	1	early 1970's	Deceased 2003
4	Bosetti	Joseph	Denver Archdiocese		1	1949-1950	Deceased 1954
5	Brown	Charles	Denver Archdiocese	1958	1	1962-1966	Retired 2002
6	Calle	Rafael Jairo	Denver Archdiocese		2	1997	Returned to Ecuador
7	Evans	Timothy	Denver Archdiocese	1993	3	1995-1999	Paroled in 7/2020
8	Fraczkowski	Edward	Denver Archdiocese		1	1967-1969	Deceased 1978
9	Funk	Kenneth	Denver Archdiocese	1950			Deceased 1974
10	Hewitt	Neil	Denver Archdiocese	1962	8	1962-1977	Laicized in 2018
11	Holloway	John V.	Denver Archdiocese		6	1962-1982	Deceased 1982
12	Kelleher	Daniel	Denver Archdiocese
13	Lemieux	Delisle	Denver Archdiocese	1926	1	1969	Deceased 1977
14	McGinn	John J.	Denver Archdiocese	1952	1	Late 1950s or early 1960s.	Deceased 2002
15	Moreno	James	Denver Archdiocese	1979	1		Stopped serving as a priest 1995
16	Pettit	Francis	Denver Archdiocese	1937	1	1963	Deceased 1987
17	Rasby	James	Denver Archdiocese	1952	2	1975, 1990	Deceased 2014
18	Scezney	Leonard	Denver Archdiocese	1985	1	1985	Faculties removed 1992
19	Schmitt	John Harley	Denver Archdiocese	1940	2	1963-1964	Deceased 2003
20	Smith	Gregory	Denver Archdiocese	1922	1		Deceased 1992
21	St. Peter	Lawrence	Denver Archdiocese	1959	3	1963-1980	Deceased 2003
22	Stein	John	Denver Archdiocese		3	1953-1956	Deceased 2001
23	Weibel	George	Denver Archdiocese	1948	2	1966-1969	Deceased 2008
24	Woodrich	Charles	Denver Archdiocese	1953			Deceased 1991
25	Whipkey	Robert	Denver Archdiocese	1983	4	1998
26	White	Harold Robert	Denver Archdiocese	1960	63	1960-1981	Deceased 2006
27	Woerth	Thomas	Denver Archdiocese	1966	1	1971-1973	Retired 2008

Diocese of Colorado Spring Credibly Accused Priest List

wdt_ID	Last Name	First Name	Diocese/Order	Year of Ordination/ Incardination	# of Victims	Year(s) of Alleged Incident(s)	Clergy Status
1	Martinez	William	Diocese of Colorado Springs	1980	2	1980, 1986	Voluntarily laicized 2006

Diocese of Pueblo Credibly Accused Priest List

wdt_ID	Last Name	First Name	Diocese/Order	Year of Ordination/ Incardination	# of Victims	Year(s) of Alleged Incident(s)	Clergy Status
1	Beno	John	Diocese of Pueblo	1959	4	1972-1974	Deceased 2000
2	Blong	Delbert	Diocese of Pueblo	1952	7	1950's-1970's	Deceased 1999
3	Bonfadini	Leo	Diocese of Pueblo	1974	1	1979	Voluntarily relinquished Faculties 1995
4	Buetzler	Walter	Diocese of Pueblo	1942	1	1953	Deceased 1988
5	Burke	Andrew	Diocese of Pueblo	< 1969	4		Deceased 2005
6	Descoise	Michael	Diocese of Pueblo	1975	1	1986	Faculties suspended 2016
7	Gleeson	William	Diocese of Pueblo	1943	5	1968-1968	Deceased 1991
8	Groves	William	Diocese of Pueblo	1980	3	1989, 2004, 2009	Became minister of "Spiritual Light Center" in Franklin, NC; still active there in 2019.
9	Haberthier	John A.	Diocese of Pueblo	1948	4	1976-1977	Deceased 2009
10	Kapushion	Marvin	Diocese of Pueblo	1956	1	1984	Deceased 2020
11	Kennedy	Gary	Diocese of Pueblo	1968	4	1967-1974	Retired 2011
12	Krol	Michael J.	Diocese of Pueblo	1945	3	1962	Deceased 1996
13	Maio	Daniel C.	Diocese of Pueblo	1966	3	1968-1969	Deceased 2006
14	Marin	Philip	Diocese of Pueblo	< 1957	1	1956	Deceased 1976
15	Martin	John	Diocese of Pueblo		1	1971	Deceased 1974
16	Norman	Clifford A.	Diocese of Pueblo	1960	1	1968	Deceased 2013
17	Reade	Joseph	Diocese of Pueblo	1954	2	1969-1986	Deceased 1990
18	Repola	Duane	Diocese of Pueblo	1964	1	1967	Deceased 1971
19	Sievers	Lawrence	Diocese of Pueblo	1969	2	1969-1970	Left priesthood 1973
20	Trujillo	Carlos	Diocese of Pueblo	1976	1	1978-1979	Left priesthood
21	Walsh	Joseph	Diocese of Pueblo	1935	2	1951-1957	Deceased 1960

Click to view our larger database of accused priests. Here you can search by accused clergy first and last name, Parish/Diocese, city and state, and even by the years of their assignments.