BEAUMONT, Texas — The Diocese of Beaumont released thirteen names Thursday of former clergy who had been “credibly accused” of sexually abusing a minor at some point in the last 52 years.
Nine of the 13 clergy named by the diocese are deceased.
Bishop Curtis Guillory, of the Diocese of Beaumont, released a letter Thursday afternoon in which he asked Catholics in Southeast Texas to face the reality that there have been 13 priests in the diocese that have had a "credible allegation" made against them.
The last credible incident of sexual abuse that the diocese is aware of happened in 1994 Guillory said in the letter.
MORE | Read Bishop Guillory's letter
MORE | Diocese of Beaumont's 'Safe Environment' program
MORE | How to report clergy abuse in Texas
The letter and a list of the 13 names were shared with the parishes, missions and schools in the area according to the diocese.
A "Diocesan Review Board" was established almost 16 years ago to assist the bishop in reviewing abuse allegations and assisted in the review the list issued Thursday the release said.
The diocese announced in an October 2018 statement that it would be releasing the names of any of its clergy who had been accused dating back to 1966 along with dioceses from around Texas.
The Diocese of Beaumont says they have a system in place to report and investigate suspected abuse and remove offenders from the ministry.
In his Thursday letter Bishop Guillory asked Catholics to join him in praying for victims of clergy abuse and apologized to the victims and their families.
RELATED: 40 Catholic priests named in Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston’s ‘credibly accused’ sex abuse list
The thirteen clergy names are...
- Ronald Bollich - Ordained May 31, 1964
- Deceased August 7,1996
- Suspended from ministry May 1994
- John Byrne, SSJ (Josephite) (Ordination date unknown)
- Deceased August 18, 2014
- Removed horn ministry approx. 1981
- Dale Calhoun (Ordained May 1, 1968)
- Moved to Diocese of Yakima Nov.1976
- Public priestly ministry revoked by Bishop of the Diocese of Yakima approx. 1986; no faculties no clerical garb
- Henry Drouilhet (Ordained March 24, 1928)
- Deceased August 16, 1988
- James Engle (Ordained May 25, 1963)
- Deceased May 16, 1999
- Albert Geoffroy (Ordained May 28, 1965)
- Deceased July 6, 2010
- Earl Mudd (Ordained May 28, 1960)
- Deceased January 1, 2019
- Faculties revoked November 1996; no public priestly ministry; no clerical garb
- Frank Paduch (Ordained July 29, 1989)
- Faculties revoked October 2001; no priestly ministry; no clerical garb; Granted dispensation from the clerical state by the Pope January 2005
- August Pucar (Ordained May 25, 1963)
- Deceased January 17, 2012
- Faculties revoked June 2006; no public priestly ministry; no clerical garb;
- As directed by the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in August 2007, must lead a life of prayer & penance.
- Jude Sivcoski (Ordained April 19, 1975)
- Arrested December 1978; Pleaded no contest; deferred judgment - 10 yrs. probation.
- Canonical Penal Trial in Diocese of Beaumont 1987-1989 with final judgment for dismissal; priest filed appeals all the way to the Roman Rota;
- Dismissed from the clerical state by the Pope September 1996
- Roger Thibodeaux (Ordained May 19, 1979)
- Resigned from priestly ministry April 1, 2002; faculties revoked; no clerical garb
- Joseph Tully (Diocese of Rockford, IL) (Ordained April 11, 1925)
- Deceased December 18, 1982
- Herman Vincent (Ordained October 15, 1933)
- Deceased April 21, 1985
Texas bishops agreed at a 2018 meeting in Austin to jointly release the names from 15 Catholic dioceses in Texas, "as part of ongoing work to protect children from sexual abuse and promote healing and a restoration of trust in the Church."
RELATED: Dallas Diocese releases 31 names of priests credibly accused of sexual abuse: Here are their names
Other dioceses that were established earlier than Beaumont diocese will be going back as far as 1950 according to the statement.
Prior to the establishment of the Diocese of Beaumont in 1966, parishes in Southeast Texas were part of the Diocese of Galveston-Houston.