Father Frank M. Genevive
Diocese of Albany
Ordained: 1983
Removed: 2002
Died: 2014
Assigned as follows:
- St. Anthony of Padua Church (Troy, NY)
- Mount Alvernia Friary (Wappingers Falls, NY)
- Christopher Columbus Catholic High School (Boston, MA)
- La Salle Institute (North Greenbush, NY)
- St. Margaret’s Parish (Buzzard’s Bay, MA)
Summary of Abuse Allegations against Father Frank M Genevive:
According to media reports, in June 2002, Father Frank M Genevive was removed from active ministry by the Franciscan Province of the Immaculate Conception when allegations of sexual abuse first surfaced against him a few years earlier. He was sent to the Mount Alvernia Friary retreat center in Wappingers Falls, New York.
According to media reports, in a 2004 lawsuit, a man claimed he was sexually abused by Genevive from 1977-1983, while assigned to St. Anthony’s Church in Troy, N.Y. The abuse began when he was 13 years old, in Boston, where Genevive took him on weekend and week-long trips. The man said Genevive would abuse him, videotape him, and photograph him at a Franciscan friary across from the Christopher Columbus High School in Boston, Massachusetts.
“This was a trusted member within my family’s social circle and he groomed us to the point where for a lot of years, I felt sorry for him, the victim said.
In June 2006, the suit against the Diocese of Albany was dismissed because no evidence was found to support the man’s claim and the Diocese of Albany had no responsibility for the priest, who was a member of the Franciscan order.
In July 2006, Genevive was charged in Boston with four counts of felony child rape for allegedly having sex with three male teens in the 1970s and 1980s while on trips to Massachusetts. The boys were between 13 and 16 years old at the time.
“I have not been able to find my faith because it was stolen from me,” said one of the victims. “I’m not sure if I’ll ever be able to step inside another church.”
In July 2008, Genevive pleaded guilty, admitting that he abused the boys in his car and at a rectory in Boston’s North End. He was sentenced to eight to ten years in prison, suspended for a period of five years. The judge ordered that he could not have any contact with minors, and attend sex offender treatment and therapy. He was also ordered to stay away from the victims, wear a GPS monitoring device, and register with the sex offender registry board.
“He should have gotten longer,” said one victim. “You ruined my life. Period.”
Another said, “Now we are vindicated and are no longer ‘alleged’ victims – people are now realizing that we have been telling the truth.”
In April 2009, two of the victims filed a $10 million lawsuit against Genevive.
His name was omitted from the 2011 Archdiocese of Boston list of clergy credibly accused of sex abuse of minors because he was a Franciscan Order priest.
Other accusers are known, and in February 2019, Genevive was named in a new suit.
Genevive died in Boston in November 2014.
Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims and survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and other clergy in the Diocese of Albany. If you need a lawyer because you were sexually abused by a priest in Albany, contact our office today. Although many years have passed, those abused by Catholic clergy in the Diocese of Albany 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.