Assignment Record– Rev. Daniel C. McSheffery

Summary of Case: McSheffery was accused by at least eight men of having sexually abused them when they were young boys. He is said to have targeted altar boys and students at his parishes' elementary schools. Accusers said he plied them with alcohol and told them they wouldn't be believed if they told anyone of the abuse. McSheffery was removed from ministry in 2002. He moved to Florida, where he died in 2014. In March 2017 a new lawsuit was filed by a man alleging sexual abuse by McSheffery over a five -year period, beginning when the man was a 9 year-old altar boy in Guilford in 1977.

Ordained: 1956
Died: 2014

   

Start Stop Assignment Town/Accusations State Position Notes

1956

Hartford archbishop was Henry Joseph O'Brien (1945-1968).

1963 Immaculate Conception Branford CT 3/3 Parish had a school with 1961-1963 with 144-240 students.

1963

O'Brien was succeeded as archbishop by John Francis Whealon (1968-1991).

1974 St. Augustine's

Hartford

• A man reported to New Haven prosecutors in 2002 that McSheffery sexually abused him as a young St. Augustine's student in around 1972, and that he feared that McSheffery had had sexually abused other boys as well. He said the abuse happened in the school and in the rectory. (Hartford Courant [Connecticut]
June 6, 2002)

• McSheffery was accused in 2002 lawsuits by two different men of having sexually abused them for years, beginning when they were 9 or 10 years old, at St. Augustine in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The boys were altar servers and students of the parish school and said that McSheffery would pull them out of class and abuse them at the school and/or in the rectory. (Hartford Courant [Connecticut]
June 6, 2002)

• Another accuser stated that McSheffery sexually abused him for two years, beginning when he was a 12 year old student at St. Augustine's school. He said McSheffery said not to tell anyone, because no one would believe him. (Hartford Courant
October 4, 2006)

• In 2004 a sixth man accused McSheffery in a lawsuit of having sexually abused him as a boy. The abuse is said to have occurred between 1967 and 1970, when the man was a parishioner of St. Augustine's and a student at the parish elementary school. (Newsday [New Haven CT]
April 24, 2004)

• Yet another man came forward, this time in 2005, to report that McSheffery sexually abused him as a boy at this parish in the late 1960s and early 1970s. (New Haven Register [Connecticut]
May 16, 2005)

CT

4/5, 4/6, 3/5, 2/5, 2/4, 2/6

McSheffery was director of the parish school, a member of the Hartford Catholic School Board, chaiman of the Hartford Catholic School Administrators' Association, and chaplain of the St. Augustine's Girls' and Boys' Brigades.

Parish had an elementary school with 931-827 students.
1974 1986 St. George's Guilford

• McSheffery was accused in a 2003 lawsuit of having sexually abused a boy at this parish for more than seven years, beginning in 1978 when the boy was an 11 year old altar server. His accuser said McSheffery would build him up with praise and fatherly advice, intimidate and sexually assault him, then resume the praise and compliments. McSheffery is also said to have plied the boy with alcohol. (Hartford Courant December 12, 2003) This accuser has stated that he is certain adults in the parish, powerful members of the Church hierarchy, and a few politicians were aware of what was happening, yet they did nothing. (Macsinclair's Blog Dec. 26, 2008)

• In 2007 a former St. George's altar boy accused McSheffery in a lawsuit of sexually abusing him in 1974 when he was 11 years old. The accuser said that after one of the incidents of abuse he ran out of the sacristy, and McSheffery subsequently dismissed him as an altar boy. (New Haven Register August 2, 2007)

• In a February 2017 lawsuit a man claimed McSheffery sexually abused him beginning when he was a 9-year-old St. George's altar boy in 1977 and continuing until he was age 14. (Hartford Courant, March 1, 2017) Per the claim, McSheffery plied the boy with alcohol and the abuse occurred in the church rectory, on the altar, in McSheffery's car, in his cottage in Old Saybrook, and in the the boy's home. (New Haven Register, March 1, 2017)		 CT  1/2   

1986

Whealon was replaced by Daniel Anthony Cronin (1991-2003), followed by Henry Joseph Mansell
(2003- ).

2002 St. Augustine's

North Branford

• In 2005 McSheffery was accused of having sexually assaulted a 15-year-old altar boy in 1988 at this parish. This accuser said McSheffery gave him alcohol, made him perform sex acts, and said no one would believe him if he told. (New Haven Register [Connecticut]
May 16, 2005)

 CT 1/1

Parish had a C.C.D. program with 485-724 students.

McSheffery is not indexed in the Directories after 2002.

McSheffery was placed on administrative leave in May 2002 due to accusations of past "sexual misconduct". (Hartford Courant [Connecticut]
May 26, 2002)

McSheffery was known in 2009 to be living in Florida. (WWLP
January 28 2009)
2002 2014 Administrative Leave   FL   McSheffery died in 2014.


Source: Official Catholic Directory (New York: P.J. Kenedy and Sons, 1957-2002)

Priests in a Parish: We use the following convention to show a priest's place among the clergy of a parish: 1/2 means that he is the first priest listed in the Official Catholic Directory (usually the pastor) and that there is a total of two priests at the parish. The shorthand 3/4 means that the priest is listed third on a four-priest roster. See our sample page from the Directory.

Note: The Official Catholic Directory aims to report the whereabouts of Catholic priests in the United States on January 1 of the Directory's publication year. Our working assumption is that a priest listed in the Directory for a given year was at the same assignment for part of the previous year as well. However, Kenedy and Sons will sometimes accept updates well into the year of publication. Diocesan clergy records are rarely available to correct this information. The Directory is also sometimes misleading or wrong. We have tried to create an accurate assignment record, given the source materials and their limitations. Assignment records are a work in progress and we are always improving the records that we post. Please email us with new information and corrections.

This assignment record collatesMcSheffery's career history as it is represented in the Official Catholic Directory with allegations as reported in the media. We make no representation regarding the truth of the allegation we report, and we remind our readers that the U.S. legal system presumes that a person accused of or charged with a crime is innocent until proven guilty. Similarly, individuals who may be defendants in civil actions are presumed not to be liable for such claims unless a plaintiff proves otherwise. Admissions of guilt or liability are not typically a part of civil or private settlements. For more information, see our posting policy.

This assignment record was last updated on March 7, 2017.