Father William Byrne
Archdiocese of Miami/Diocese of Tucson
Ordained: 1952
Dead: 1991
Assignment History:
- 1952: Sts. Peter and Paul Parish (Tucson, AZ)
- 1952-1953: Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Parish (Miami, FL)
- 1953-1956: Immaculate Conception Parish (Douglas, AZ)
- 1956: St. Ambrose Parish (Tucson, AZ)
- 1956-1962: Regina Cleri Seminary (Tucson, AZ)
- 1962-1964: St. Henry Parish, Mission Trailer Apostolate (Buckeye/Gila Bend, AZ)
- 1964-1967: St. Jerome Parish (Phoenix, AZ)
- 1967: Christ the King Parish (Mesa, AZ)
- 1967-1971: Sacred Heart Parish (Clifton, AZ)
- 1971-1975: St. Francis of Assisi Parish (Yuma, AZ)
- 1975-1981: Our Mother of Sorrows Parish (Tucson, AZ)
- 1981-1985: Vocations, Diocese of Tucson
- 1985-1991: St. Ambrose Parish (Tucson, AZ)
Summary of Sexual Abuse Allegations against Father William Byrne:
According to media reports, Fr. William T. Byrne has been named in multiple civil lawsuits accusing him of both adult and child sexual abuse. In a 1999 lawsuit, Byrne was accused of sexually abusing a minor from approximately 1976 to 1979 at Our Mother of Sorrows in Tucson, Arizona.
In a 2002 lawsuit, Byrne was accused of sexually abusing two minors who were brothers at Holy Cross in Clifton, Arizona during the summers of 1968 and 1969. He took the boys to a church camp where he gave them cigarettes and alcohol, showed them pornographic movies, let them drive cars without licenses, and sexually molested them.
According to another lawsuit, during the late 1970s and early 1980s, Byrne and three other priests had sex with a Tucson teenager who was later given a chancery job to ensure his silence. Another lawsuit claimed Byrne provided a minor boy with alcohol and took him to pornographic films on trips, and told him that certain sexuality was exempt from the prohibition of the church.
Prior to Byrne’s death and the lawsuits, the church officials said they were not aware of any allegations.
Byrne was one of four priests named in a $14M civil settlement the Diocese of Tucson reached with 10 men in January 2002.
Fr. Byrne died in 1991.
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