| Rev. Hugh F. Monahan Summary of Case: Monahan has been accused of sexually abusing at least eight boys, including a nephew, during his career as a Kansas City-St. Joseph priest. One boy moved in with him in a parish rectory at age 16, and claimed years later that three deacons and a priest knew about it. Another accuser said he told adiocesan officials in 1979 that Monahan had abused him, but officials in 2011 denied knowing of accusations against Monohan at that time. Monahan left the priesthood in 1989, moved to Florida and eventually to San Juan, Puerto Rico. His whereabouts since June 2003 are unknown. Ordained: 1968 |
| Start | Stop | Parish/Assignment | Town/Accusations | State | Position | Notes |
1968 Kansas City-St. Joseph bishop was Charles Herman Helmsing (1962-1977) |
1969 | St. Louis' | Kansas City | MO | 3/3 | St. Louis' had a school with 330 students. |
| 1969 | 1970 | St. Peter's | Kansas City | MO | 2/3 | St. Peter's had a school with 317 students. |
| 1970 | 1973 | St. Bernadette's | Kansas City • Monahan's nephew accused the priest of sexually abusing him as a child over an eleven year period, beginning in 1971. The nephew and his family were parishioners of St. Peters. The family said that Monahan sexually abused another young family member as well. |
MO | 2/3, 2/2 | St. Bernadette's had a school with 267 students. |
| 1973 | New Orleans | LA | Per the Vicar General in 2003, Rev. Patrick Rush, Monahan went on leave and worked in a New Orleans restaurant for seven months in 1973. | |||
| 1973 | 1977 | Sacred Heart | Warrensburg • Monahan was accused in a 2003 lawsuit of having sexually abused a boy between 1975-1979. Monahan's accuser said the abused started when he was 11 years-old, and escalated to sodomy and rape. • In a Nov. 2003 lawsuit Monahan was accused of sexually abusing two boys, who were brothers, from 1976-1981. The brothers were Sacred Heart altar boys. Monahan is said to have abused the boys in the rectory and on youth group outings, as well as on lake trips. His accusers also said he plied them with alcohol, molested them, and encouraged them to have sex with other children. The lawsuit claimed Monahan tore the family apart, pitting one family member against the other. |
MO | 1/2, 2/2, 2/2 | The 1975 Directory indexes but does not list Monahan in the Kansas City-St. Joseph diocesan pages as at Sacred Heart. When he is again listed in the 1976 and 1977 Directories, he is shown as associate priest at Sacred Heart rather than pastor, as he had been in 1973-1974.
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1977 Helmsing was succeeded by John Joseph Sullivan (1977-1993) |
1978 | St. Patrick's | Holden • Monahan was accused in an Aug. 2011 lawsuit of sexually abusing a boy in the late 1970s, while assigned to St. Patrick's. |
MO | 1/1 | |
| 1977 | 1978 | St. John the Baptist | Holden | MO | This was a mission of St. Patrick's. | |
| 1978 | 1979 | St. Stephen's | Kansas City | MO | 1/1, Administrator | St. Stephen's had a school with 172 students. A man who said in Aug. 2011 that Monahan sexually abused him in the late 1970s, said he reported the abuse to the diocese in 1979, but that nothing was done as a result. |
| 1979 | 1981 | Sacred Heart | Warrensburg | MO | 1/2 | |
| 1981 | 1983 | St. Bartholomew's | Windsor | MO | 1/1 | |
| 1983 | 1987 | St. Robert Bellarmine | Blue Springs • In a 2003 lawsuit, Monahan was accused of having sexually abused a boy between 1982-1987. Monahan's accuser said the abuse started when he was 15 years-old and working at the church rectory. |
MO | 1/1 | |
| 1987 | The diocesan spokesperson said in Nov. 2003 that Monahan took a five month leave in 1987. | |||||
| 1987 | 1989 | Holy Cross | Kansas City • Monahan was accused in a Nov. 2003 lawsuit of having sexually abused a young Holy Cross parishioner in the late 1980s. This accuser said he went to Monahan for counseling at age 12 after a neighbor molested him. Monahan is said to have become "physical" with the boy, beginning with touching and tickling, escalating to sexual involvement when the boy was 16. The boy moved in with Monahan before turning 18, and claimed in the 2003 lawsuit that three priests and a deacon knew about it, but did nothing. The accuser said he later lived with Monahan in Florida, but left in 1990. • Monahan was accused in a March 2011 lawsuit of having sexually abused a 13 year-old boy during his time at Holy Cross. The accuser also claimed he had been sexually abused at ages 9 and 10 by former Holy Cross priest Rev. Mark Honhart. |
MO | 2/2, 1/1 |
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| 1989 | FL | Per the diocese, Monahan left the priesthood in 1989 and moved to Florida. | ||||
| 2003 | San Juan | Puerto Rico | Monahan was living in Puerto Rico as of June 2003, but investigators could not find him at his known address. | |||
| 2003 | 2012 | Monahan's whereabouts are unknown. |
Sources: Official Catholic Directory (New York: P.J. Kenedy and Sons, 1969-1989) • Diocese Faces Sex Abuse Lawsuits, Two Plaintiffs Accuse Ex-Priest, By Kevin Murphy, Kansas City Star, September 5, 2003
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