Father Donald Bolton
Diocese of Brooklyn
Ordained: 1952
Died: 2006
Assigned as follows:
- 1953-1954: Mount St. Alphonsus (Esopus, NY)
- 1955-1959: Bela Vista (Mato Grosso, Brazil)
- 1960-1962: Campo Grande (Mato Grosso, Brazil)
- 1963-1967: Bela Vista (Mato Grosso, Brazil)
- 1968-1969: Monte Alegre (Parana, Brazil)
- 1970: Rocio (Parana, Brazil)
- 1971-1974: Notre Dame Retreat House (Canandaigua, NY)
- 1975-1984: St. Gregory Thaumaturgus (North East, PA)
- 1985-1987: Our Lady of Perpetual Help (Brooklyn, NY)
- 1988-1990: Holy Family Retreat House (Hampton, VA)
- 1990-2003: St. Alphonsus Villa-Redemptorist Fathers and Brother (New Smyrna Beach, FL)
- 2004-2006: St John Neumann Residence (Saratoga Springs, NY)
Summary of Abuse Allegations against Father Donald Bolton:
Fr. Donald Bolton was ordained a Redemptorist priest in 1952. According to media reports, he was accused of sexually abusing a minor girl between 1974 and 1984, while serving at St. Gregory Thaumaturgus in North East, Pennsylvania. The girl’s parents reported the abuse to the Redemptorist Fathers, who reportedly promised the parents that Bolton would not be permitted to work with children. It is also reported that Bolton abused a fourth-grade boy between 1976 and 1977.
In 1986, the parents learned that he was reassigned to teach at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Brooklyn, New York, and reported Bolton to the police. In November 1986, he was charged with one count each of indecent assault and corruption of minors. He pleaded guilty and in February 1987, he was sentenced to three years’ probation.
Bolton was named in the 2018 Pennsylvania Report I of the 40th Statewide Investigating Grand Jury in the subsections “Diocese of Erie” and “Offenders Identified by the Grand Jury”.
His status as a priest, and whether he had access to children from 1987 until his death in 2006 are unknown.
Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims and survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and other clergy in the Diocese of Brooklyn. If you need a lawyer because you were sexually abused by a priest in Brooklyn, contact our office today. Although many years have passed, those abused by Catholic clergy in the Diocese of Brooklyn now have legal options to recover damages due to a compensation fund created for victims. Call us at 888-283-9922 or send an email to [email protected] to discuss your options today.