Province of St. Albert the Great, USA

Status of Friars with Established Allegations

The sexual abuse of minors is among the most tragic realities in the history of the Church. The Province of St. Albert the Great, USA, apologizes for any way in which we have contributed to this tragic history. There is no apology that can heal the depth and extent of the wounds, no way to deny that the Church was not what its founder intended for it to be. It has taken years for the Church to understand, and she still does not fully understand, the causes, the impact, the suffering of a reality that is so antithetical to the Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ, which has been entrusted to us and to which we are called upon to bear witness. Among our continuing efforts, the Province is making public the names of any current, former, and deceased members of the Province against whom an allegation of having sexually abused a minor is deemed to have been established. For that purpose, an external independent investigator was retained to review all the files from the founding of the Province in 1939 until the present day, including the files of men who are deceased, who departed from the Order, or who transferred to another province of the Order, in addition to those members who are living and among us.

According to Praesidium, a nationally recognized accrediting agency with respect to child protection, by which the Dominicans of the Central Province have been fully accredited since 2006, the definition of an established allegation is: “Based upon the facts and the circumstances, there is objective certainty that the accusation is true and that an incident of sexual abuse of a minor has occurred.”

The following criteria were used in assessing whether an allegation can be considered “established”: (1) Whether the friar acknowledged the abuse; (2) Whether there have been multiple allegations against the same friar which cumulatively enhance credibility; (3) Whether the Province’s Sexual Abuse Review Board judged one or more allegations against a friar to be sufficiently credible to consider it “established”; or (4) Whether a diocese, upon its own investigation, judged the allegation to be substantiated and the Province considered the diocesan report to have taken all relevant facts into consideration. At the meeting of our Sexual Abuse Review Board in February 2022, the Board considered information regarding all friars against whom there have been any allegations of sexual abuse of a minor and determined which friars have been the subject of at least one allegation the Board considers to be “established.” We are sharing the results of that process with you.

The number of allegations involving abuse that occurred after the adoption of The Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, also known as the “Dallas Charter,” in 2002, is significantly lower than in earlier periods. This suggests that the requirements put in place in 2002 have proven to be effective. The Province of St. Albert the Great has followed the directives of the Dallas Charter as well as of its own policy which is available here on this website. We intend to continue doing all that we can to protect children and vulnerable adults from any abuse. This has been and continues to be a priority for the Province.

The following is a list of those friars who have been or are members of our Province against whom one or more allegations of sexually abusing a minor have been established. This list does not include any cases that may be currently under investigation. Accused friars who are alive are placed on administrative leave while an allegation is investigated. If new allegations are established by the Province, we will update this list accordingly.

If you, or someone you know, would like to report sexual abuse by a member of the Province of St. Albert the Great, please let us know. You can contact one of our Victim Assistance Coordinators whose information is at the bottom of this page. If the allegation is current, please consider also contacting law enforcement authorities in the location where the  abuse occurred.

List Created April 21, 2022,  Updated June 9, 2023

Current Members

none

 

Deceased Members

Joseph Sebastian Angers, O.P.

  • Birth: 1912
  • Profession: 1938
  • Ordination: 1944
  • Death: 1978

Allegations of sexual abuse with young boys first came to the attention of the Province in the Fall of 1975. Fr. Angers was temporarily removed from ministry and required to undergo psychiatric counseling. By the Fall of 1976, he was required to undergo treatment and supervision at the Villa Pius XII treatment center in Albuquerque, NM, and later at the Via Caeli treatment center in Jemez Springs, NM, where he died.

Daniel Patrick Brady, O.P.

  • Birth: 1921
  • Profession: 1942
  • Ordination: 1948
  • Death: 2001

Fr. Brady joined the Southern Dominican Province of St. Martin de Porres on August 10, 1980. An allegation of sexual abuse by Fr. Brady from 1973–1975 was received in 1989, after which he was removed from public ministry by the Province of St. Martin de Porres. A second allegation, alleging abuse in 1959, was received before Brady’s death in 2001. Multiple allegations were received after his death.

Vincent Bryce, O.P.

  • Birth: 1929
  • Profession: 1951
  • Ordination: 1957

Removed from public ministry on April 24, 2002, after the Province received an allegation that he had sexually abused a minor in the early 1970s at St. Vincent Ferrer Parish, River Forest, IL, which he acknowledged as true.

Richard Butler, O.P.

  • Birth: 1918
  • Profession: 1943
  • Ordination: 1949
  • Death: 1988

An allegation of sexual abuse by Fr. Butler in the 1960s and early 1970s was received by the Diocese of Tucson in 2002 after Fr. Butler had died. A second allegation, received several years later, could not be substantiated.

Richard de Ranitz, O.P.

  • Birth: 1943
  • Profession: 1964
  • Ordination: 1970
  • Death: 2018

In 1990, Fr. de Ranitz self-reported a history of sexual abuse of minors beginning in the 1980s and was removed from public ministry.

Carlos Griego, O.P.

  • Birth: 1932
  • Profession: 1953
  • Religious Brother (not ordained)
  • Death: 2010

Removed from public ministry in 1992 after an allegation of sexually inappropriate behavior with a young adult male. Several years later, the Province received reports that Brother Griego had sexually abused several teenage boys as well.

Dan Ostdiek, O.P.

  • Birth: 1932
  • Profession: 1954
  • Ordination: 1960
  • Death: 2009

An allegation that Fr. Ostdiek had sexually abused a minor in 1983–1984 was received in 2016 after Fr. Ostdiek had died.

Separated Members

The following friars all chose to depart from the Order and were dispensed from their vows.

Edmund Frost (deceased)

  • Birth: 1936
  • Profession: 1958
  • Religious Brother (not ordained)
  • Dispensation from Vows: March 22, 1978
  • Death: 1995

In the Fall of 1974, Br. Frost was accused of having sexually abused a minor in 1972–1973 at St. Albert the Great Parish in Minneapolis and Br. Frost was removed from ministry there. Additional allegations of abuse while Frost was serving at St. Albert the Great Parish were received after Br. Frost’s death in 1995.

Thomas Johnston

  • Birth: 1955
  • Profession: 1981
  • Ordination: 1986
  • Dispensation from Vows: March 17, 2006

Removed from public ministry after the Province received an allegation of inappropriate behavior and attempted sexual abuse of a minor in 1999.

Ronan Liles

  • Birth: 1942
  • Profession: 1963
  • Ordination: 1971
  • Dispensation from Vows: September 12, 1985

Fr. Liles joined the Southern Dominican Province of St. Martin de Porres in 1980. Allegations of sexual abuse at St. Albert the Great Parish in Minneapolis, MN, in the late 1960s to mid-1970s were first received in 1993, after Fr. Liles had left the Order of Preachers.

Raphael Lino

  • Birth: 1971 (Bolivia)
  • Profession: 1993
  • Ordination: 2000
  • Dispensation from Vows: 2005

Removed from public ministry in 2002, after an allegation of sexual abuse of minors was substantiated by the Archdiocese of Santa Cruz, Bolivia, where the abuse reportedly occurred and where Lino was in the process of seeking incardination.

Michael Winkels

  • Birth: 1948
  • Profession: 1972
  • Ordination: 1976
  • Dispensation from Vows: April 18, 2023

In 2021, the Province received an allegation that Fr. Winkels had sexually abused a minor in 1978. He was removed from public ministry on August 10, 2021. The preliminary investigation of the allegation indicated that there was at least a semblance of truth. The allegation was not able to be canonically established, but was deemed credible by the Province's Review Board. We include it here for the sake of transparency.

Cases for Which No Reliable Determination Could Be Made

The Province’s Sexual Misconduct Review Board did not consider themselves to have a sufficient basis for making a reliable determination as to whether one or more allegations of sexual abuse of a minor had been established against either of the two deceased members of the Province listed below. We are noting them here because they have been included elsewhere in a public list of credibly accused clergy and religious.

William Farrell, O.P.

  • Birth: 1936
  • Profession: 1959
  • Ordained: 1965
  • Death: 1989

Fr. Farrell joined the Southern Dominican Province of St. Martin de Porres in 1980.

Gilbert Hensley, O.P.

  • Birth: 1941
  • Profession: 1962
  • Religious Brother (not ordained)
  • Removed from public ministry: 2004
  • Death: 2014
 

Getting Help

If you or someone you know has been abused by a Dominican friar, please contact one of our Victim Assistance Coordinators, Br. Joseph Trout, OP or Dr. Michael Bland. Their contact information is given below.

Br. Joseph Trout, OP
+1(312) 243-0011 x724
socius@opcentral.org

Michael Bland, Psy.D., D.Min.
+1 (773) 404-8161
michael@blandtherapy.com

Dominican Province Center
1910 S. Ashland Avenue
Chicago, IL 60608