Father Eugene Vollmer
Diocese of Rockville Centre
Ordained: 1978
Laicized: 2004
Died: 2016
Assigned as follows:
- 1977-1978 St. Joseph’s (Ronkonkoma, NY)
- 1978 Our Lady of Perpetual Help (Lindenhurst, NY)
- 1978-1985 St. Thomas the Apostle (West Hempstead, NY)
- 1985-1988 Our Lady of Lourdes (West Islip, NY)
- 1988-1997 Our Lady of Victory (Floral Park, NY)
- 1997-1998 St. Peter of Alcantara (Port Washington, NY)
- 1998-2002 St. James (Seaford, NY)
- 2003-2016 Unknown
Summary of Abuse Allegations Against Father Eugene Vollmer:
According to media reports, in March 2002, two brothers accused Father Eugene Vollmer of child sexual abuse. Both victims said they had previously reported the abuse to the Diocese of Rockville Centre, but no action was taken. One said he reported the abuse when it happened and then again in 1991. The other said he reported it in 1994.
Father Vollmer was removed from his position as an associate pastor at St. James Roman Catholic Church in Seaford. In 2003, two survivors filed a lawsuit alleging that Father Vollmer sexually abused them as children while he was a priest at St. Joseph’s in Ronkonkoma, and by a third survivor who alleged that he was sexually abused by the priest about five years later after he was transferred to St. Thomas the Apostle in West Hempstead, New York. He was placed on an “indefinite” leave of absence following the accusations.
Father Vollmer was identified as Priest D in the 2003 Suffolk County Grand Jury report. According to the report, he admitted to abusing at least 12 victims, giving them wine, marijuana, and porn videos.
“While I am spending nights over in the rectory, my mom is seeing it as a blessing,” one victim, a former altar boy, said. He attributes two suicide attempts, homelessness, depression, drug and alcohol addiction, compulsive sexual addiction, and other mental health problems to Father Vollmer’s sexual abuse. He said his relationship with Father Vollmer so confused him that he had him officiate at his wedding in 1989.
Father Vollmer was laicized in June 2004, and he died in 2016.
In August 2019, in a lawsuit filed under the NY Child Victims Act, Father Vollmer was accused of abusing a 16-year-old parishioner of St. Joseph’s in Ronkonkoma in 1975. He is listed on the Diocese of Rockville Centre’s 2021 List of Clergy Credibly Accused of Sexual Abuse of a Minor.
Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims and survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and other clergy in the Diocese of Rockville Centre in New York. If you need a lawyer because you were sexually abused by a priest in New York, contact our office today. In October 2020, the Rockville Centre Diocese filed for federal bankruptcy protection. The Court will resolve all claims of sexual abuse in this process but strict filing deadlines will apply and no late claims will be considered, so contact us today. Our lawyers have decades of experience representing survivors of clergy sexual abuse in New York and nationwide. We can help.
Contact us at 888-283-9922 or [email protected] to discuss your options today.