UPDATED 2022.9.20

Father LeRoy Valentine is -- was, because he's dead -- a serial sexual abuser of children, at least, who was active abusing children from August 1977 until March 2002.

At last count, the survivors of Fr. Valentine number...

• Confirmed = 13 2022.9.20
• Suspected = 6

Other Victims of Father LeRoy Valentine

Yes, some clearly false allegations have been made against Father Valentine.

The dates don't just work out.*

However, the false allegations are FAR outweighed by the number of confirmed victims.

Confirmed Victims

How many confirmed victims of Fr. Leroy Valentine are there?

I'm trying to figure that out based on conversations with schoolmates, newspaper reports, press releases, and other sources. Here is my count of the victims and the survivors, listed in rough order of credibility.

1. Myself, Chris O'Leary

While Gabe Jones of the Archdiocese of St. Louis publicly called me a liar in an April 21, 2018 piece by Aisha Sultan entitled Priest sex abuse survivor says trauma lingers that ran in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch...

Gabe Jones, spokesman for the St. Louis Archdiocese, said in an email when asked to comment on O’Leary’s account, “The archdiocese’s record of Mr. O’Leary’s allegations are significantly different; however, due to a court order as well as our own ethical obligation, we are not at liberty to discuss Mr. O’Leary’s case.” Jones also said the information O’Leary shared initially changed multiple times...

The statement "the information O’Leary shared initially changed multiple times" is odd given that Sandra Price, executive director of the Archdiocese of St. Louis' Office of Child & Youth Protection, admitted It Happened in a February e-mail to me...

You chose to litigate your claims of sexual abuse by Rev. Leroy Valentine. YOUR CLAIMS WERE ACKNOWLEDGED by Deacon Phil Hengen, the Archdiocese of Saint Louis and the court system. This matter has been fully settled through litigation and is final. Because your claim has been fully settled and is final the Archdiocese of Saint Louis will not be responding to any further inquiries regarding these claims. Please know that YOU AND ALL VICTIMS OF ABUSE are in my prayers and I do hope that you are able to find peace in the future. I wish you the best.

Also, to the statement, "the information O’Leary shared initially changed multiple times," I'd say one thing.

From when to when?

When I met with the Review/Investigatory  Team on May 9, 2011, they told me they had no record of my 2002 conversations with Cardinal Timothy Dolan and a psychologist who I assume was Nancy Brown.

How can the Archdiocese of St. Louis say my story CHANGED when, by their own admission, they only talked to me once?

I would hope the inability of the Archdiocese of St. Louis to keep its story straight helps to explain why survivors have such a hard time finding peace.

2. Survivor R

On April 21, 2018 the St. Louis Post-Dispatch ran a piece by Aisha Sultan entitled Priest sex abuse survivor says trauma lingers. Later that day I was contacted by a person, who I know from back in the day, who told me they were also abused by Fr. LeRoy Valentine, including when taken to Valentine's room to receive "haircuts."

The word "haircuts" resonated with me because I have talked with my therapists and tweeted about how Fr. Valentine was obsessed with my hair. I also have a thing about my hair getting long, especially at certain times of the year (e.g Lent).

Hello Chris my name is R_, I graduated from Immacolata in 19__, was a alter boy and had to get “hair cuts” from Fr. Valentine in his bedroom, so I unfortunately know too. What angers me as much is several times leaving Valentines bedroom, fr. Timothy Dolan, now Cardinal Dolan lived in the room next door & would be standing right there & never did anything.

One other thing this person had to say was that then-Father and now-Cardinal Timothy Dolan was aware at the time that it was happening that Fr. Valentine was taking children up to his room.

And Dolan did nothing.

That is consistent with my experience with Cardinal Timothy Dolan at the time.

3. Survivor T

Survivor T, who I know and keep in touch with, is the person who came forward in late March 2002, and also implicated Timothy Cardinal Dolan, forcing Valentine's resignation.

On March 28, 2002 the New York Times ran a piece that disclosed that Fr. LeRoy Valentine had resigned due to a new, presumably credible, accusation that had been made against him.

That the Archdiocese of St. Louis said was NOT credible.

But, if their accusation wasn't credible, then why did Valentine resign?

This person is also listed in The Matrix as having contacted Nancy Brown.

The worst part of the handling of T's case is the Archdiocese of St. Louis never contacted me after Fr. Valentine resigned.

I also suspect that T is the person who alleged abuse by Valentine during his first confession in 1978.

4. Scorfina Brother One

On March 3, 2002 the New York Times ran a piece entitled No Easy Solution on Abusive Priests. That piece revealed that the Archdiocese of St. Louis had made secret payments to the three Scorfina brothers. The Scorfinas are also named in The Matrix.

5. Scorfina Brother Two

6. Scorfina Brother Three

7. Survivor M

M, who is dead, was brought to my attention by someone who was at a different parish and who knew of at least two other people, besides M, who were likely abused by Fr. Valentine.

8. Valentine Survivor JT

JT came forward in the comments of a SNAP piece entitled Predator priest who was ousted last year is now sued again. His story of being molested by Fr. Valentine in 1975 is similar to one of my own experiences where Fr. Valentine molested me in a car.

9. Valentine Survivor G

A few days ago I had lunch with a friend who I didn't realize had been at Immacolata while Fr. Valentine was there. He told me that while he dodged a bullet, someone we both know once told my friend, "Yeah, Valentine got me."

10. Valentine Survivor P

In conversations with a classmate, who themselves was abused by someone else at Immacolata, but not by Fr. LeRoy Valentine, they told me their brother was a server and stopped serving as a result of how Fr. Valentine used to tickle him and how that made him feel. I believe this person because I also have tickling memories that involve Fr. Valentine. There is also something about how the classmate described their brother's affect that leads me to believe he was abused.

11. Valentine Survivor 11

On May 10, 2013 the Archdiocese of St. Louis announced that it had permanently removed Fr. LeRoy Valentine from active ministry due to a complaint brought by someone who came forward in 2012. I came forward in 2002 and 2011, not 2012, so this must be an additional survivor.

12. Valentine Survivor 12

On September 7, 2019 the St. Louis Post-Dispatch ran a piece entitled Catholic officials named them as abusers and I posted in the comments. An hour or so later, I received the following e-mail.

Add me to your list of Valentine victims.

I am unfortunately not as open as you are about your experiences.  When I see the articles in the paper it brings up repressed memories and absolutely infuriates me.

I am __ and attended Immacolata and then __ (where I had to fend off the __). Luckily I had become hardened and untrusting enough (at 12 years old) I was able to keep them at bay. 

My wife and I met with the Archdiocese several years ago and felt I was brushed off.

Where is dear Leroy living?

13. September 2022 Survivor

I was recently contacted by another survivor of Fr. LeRoy Valentine.

Suspected Victims

1. Possible Valentine Survivor

This person is mentioned on page 271 of the book No Longer on Pedastals. Given the timing of their allegation, which was at the same time of mine. I believe they most likely called to report an incident perpetrated by Fr. LeRoy Valentine.

2. M Friend Number One

3. M Friend Number Two

4. Possible Valentine Survivor

In a conversation with a classmate, they let me know that they know of someone who has had psychological and other problems with their life, they suspect due to abuse by Fr. Valentine. I am hoping to contact this survivor.

5. Possible Valentine Survivor

In the same conversation, my classmate told me they believe their mother knows of at least one other survivor, if not more.

6. Possible Valentine Survivor

This another person who has come forward to someone. I don't know who it is, so I can't speak to the validity of their accusation.

* I used to think one of the stories I heard about Valentine didn't work from a timeline perspective but, now, I've started to wonder. Were the "bogus" allegations I've heard of from his time in the Minor Seminary in St. Louis? Did he go active MUCH sooner than I thought?