Fr. John Francis Dority
Diocese of Norwich (Franciscans)
Ordained: 1967
Left Order: 1976
Laicized: 1980
Died: 2019
Assigned as Follows:
- 1967-1973: St. Anne’s Friary (Annapolis, Brazil)
- 1967-1973: Holy Name (Roslindale, MA)
- 1973-1975: St. Stephen of Hungary (New York, NY)
- 1975-1976: St. Catherine of Bologna (Ringwood, NJ)
Summary of Sexual Abuse Allegations against Fr. John Francis Dority:
Fr. John Dority was ordained a Franciscan Friar priest in 1967 who served in the Diocese of Norwich. In the 1960s through the early 1970s, he spent six years as a missionary in Brazil. When visiting family in Massachusetts, he worked as a fill-in priest at Holy Name in Roslindale. He also worked at parishes in Ringwood, New Jersey, and New York City. He left the Franciscans in 1976 and was laicized in 1980.
According to media reports, in 2003, Rhode Island State Police arrested John Dority in his Woonsocket home for allegedly molesting a 13-year-old boy. He was later charged with sexually assaulting a 19-year-old man. Dority pleaded no-contest to second degree child molestation charges in 2005 and received a 20-year prison sentence. He was released in 2007 after serving two. His name is listed on the Connecticut sex offender registry.
In 2010, a civil suit was filed on behalf of two men who allege that they were sexually abused by Dority while he was on leave from his assignment in Brazil and serving as a fill-in priest in Roslindale, MA. The alleged abuse occurred between 1965 and 1971, starting when the plaintiffs were ages 10 and 13. Dority admitted to the abuse. The judge awarded $3 million to the plaintiffs in October 2011.
In a 2020 lawsuit, Fr. Dority is accused of sexually abusing a male minor in 1975-1976 when the victim was 13-14 years old. The alleged abuse occurred while Dority was assigned to St. Catherine in Ringwood, NJ.
Dority’s name was not included in the Archdiocese of Boston’s Database of Publicly Accused Priests in the United States. In February 2019, his name was included on the Diocese of Norwich’s list of clergy credibly accused of sex abuse of minors. It noted that as of 2019, he was living in the diocese, but was never affiliated with it.
In October 2021, the Holy Name Province published a list of Franciscan friars with substantiated child sexual abuse and misconduct claims following a review of its files by an advisory firm. John Dority was one of 23 the friars named.
He died in 2019.
Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims and survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and other clergy in the Diocese of Norwich in Connecticut. If you need a lawyer because you were sexually abused by a priest in Connecticut, contact our office today. In July 2021, the Norwich 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 Connecticut and nationwide. We can help.
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