Father Franklin Buckman
Diocese of Orange
Ordained: 1963
Removed: 2002
Assigned as follows:
- 1964-1967 St. Barbara’s (Santa Ana, CA)
- 1968-1972 Our Lady of the Valley (Canoga Park, CA)
- 1973-1976 St. Athanasius (Long Beach, CA)
- 1977-1984 St. Polycarp (Stanton, CA)
- 1985-2002 On Duty Outside of Diocese
- 1987-1989 Our Lady of Mount Carmel (Chiloquin, OR)
- 1990-2002 St. Pius Xth (Klamath Falls, OR)
Summary of Abuse Allegations against Father Franklin Buckman:
Father Franklin Buckman was ordained in 1963, who served in the Diocese of Orange, and spent the next twenty years working in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. According to media reports, in 1984, he resigned from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles citing the burden of administration of such a large parish and hoped to continue ministry at a smaller parish. It was later revealed the true reason of his departure was due to being accused of sexual abuse by three boys between 1962 and 1981. He was then transferred to the Diocese of Baker, in Oregon in 1985.
According to media reports, in February 1989, a California woman accused him of molesting her 8-year old son while he was still an Orange County priest. In a letter the mother’s doctor wrote to church officials in 1990, the doctor revealed that the woman confronted her son’s abuser in 1979, and he confessed to the molestation. The letter says the woman then went to the bishop about the matter but “was told not to discuss it and to stop bothering the authorities of the diocese.”
As a result, the doctor wrote, the mother suffered from a sleep disorder, severe headaches and “obsessive ruminations… particularly a sense of guilt that she did not protect the child.”
Father Buckman retired and was removed from ministry in 2002. He was included in a press release issued by the Diocese of Orange in 2004 as a priest accused and removed from ministry. A lawsuit filed against him in 2005, revealed that the Archdiocese of Los Angeles was aware of complaints against Father Buckman as early as 1979. The lawsuit was settled for $1.9 million. Father Buckman’s name was included in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles’ list of priests accused of sexual misconduct involving minors. He is believed to be living a “life of prayer and penance” in Oregon.
Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims and survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and other clergy in the Diocese of Orange in California. If you need a lawyer because you were sexually abused by a priest in one of California’s Catholic dioceses, contact our office today. Although many years have passed, those abused by Catholic clergy in the Diocese of Orange now have legal options due to a temporary change in California law, but filing deadlines will apply so do not delay in reaching out to us. Our lawyers have decades of experience representing survivors of clergy sexual abuse in California and nationwide. We can help.
Contact us at 888-283-9922 or [email protected] to discuss your options today.