Father David Bialkowski
Diocese of Buffalo
Ordained: 1988
Removed: 2011
Assigned as follows:
- 1989-1993 St. Bernard (Buffalo, NY)
- 1994-1995 Saints Peter and Paul Church (Hamburg, NY)
- 1996-2003 St. John Gualbert Church (Cheektowaga, NY)
- 2004-2011 Legion of Mary; St. John Gualbert (Cheektowaga, NY)
- 2012-2013 Absent on leave
- 2014-2016 Administrative leave
Summary of Abuse Allegations against Father David Bialkowski:
According to media reports, Father David Bialkowski was placed on leave in February 2011. A former altar boy accused him of inappropriately touching his upper thigh and making suggestive statements to him 10 years earlier when the boy was a teenager. At the time, Father Bialkowski was serving as a priest at St. John Gualbert. One month later in March, two other men came forward and said that Father Bialkowski acted inappropriately toward them as teens. He denied any wrongdoing.
An internal church document states that Buffalo Police found Father Bialkowski in a parked car with a 16-year-old boy twice in one night in December 1994. Police didn’t file charges and found “no inappropriate activity” was occurring, but police did report the incident to the Diocese of Buffalo in February 1995.
In March 2018, Father Bialkowski’s name was included in the Diocese of Buffalo’s list of priests who “were removed from ministry, were retired, or left ministry after allegations of sexual abuse of a minor.” No information regarding the allegations was disclosed.
In August 2019, Father Bialkowski was named in a lawsuit filed under the NY Child Victims Act. The suit alleges that he abused an 8-year-old boy, during counseling sessions at St. John Gualbert. The abuse occurred over an eight month period between 1999 and 2000. According to the lawsuit, Father Bialkowski forcibly touched him and exposed himself to the boy.
In 2018, Father Bialkowski was working as an organist at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Tonawanda, New York He lives across the street from the William J. Grabiarz School of Excellence playground in Buffalo. He was placed on leave in 2011 by the Diocese in response to an allegation that he acted inappropriately toward a child. After that report surfaced, two other individuals came forward stating that Father Bialkowski acted inappropriately toward them as children.
In April 2020, Father Bialkowski was one of 23 priests removed from the Diocese of Buffalo’s payroll through an agreement it reached with survivors in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
The New York State Attorney general issued a scathing report on the Diocese of Buffalo in November 2020. In it, Bishop Edward U. Kmiec — who retired in 2012 and died in July 2020 — was directly implicated in a potential cover-up involving Father Bialkowski According to the Attorney General report, Kmiec wrote two letters of recommendation in 2010 for Fr. David Bialkowski that stated, “I am unaware of anything in [his] background which would render him unsuitable to work with minor children.” Prior to that, however, the Rport listed an extensive history of Bialkowski allegedly being in “inappropriate” situations with young boys and men.
In August 2022, an Erie County issued an Order that David Bialkowski may serve as “executor” of the two million dollar estate of a deceased parishioner. The judge rejected the claim of the decedent’s family that Bialkowski “groomed” their relative to become the executor of her estate.
Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims of sexual abuse in the Diocese of Buffalo and throughout New York. The Diocese of Buffalo filed for federal bankruptcy protection in February 2020. Anyone sexually abused by a priest or employee of the Diocese of Buffalo may be entitled to file a claim against the Diocese in these bankruptcy proceedings, but very strict filing deadlines apply. Most victims of abuse in the Diocese of Buffalo will never be able to take action against the Diocese of Buffalo if they miss this bankruptcy filing deadline, so it is important that you contact us immediately to discuss your potential case.
Contact us at 888-283-9922 or [email protected] to discuss your legal options today.