Rev. Thomas Parrott, c.m.

Summary of Case: Parrott was accused in a 2011 lawsuit of having sexually abused a 14-16 year old boy, who was a student and spiritual advisee of Parrott's in the mid-1960s. The accuser said Parrott would masturbate in front of him with increasing frequency and throw him against walls, forcing his face into the priest's genital area. Parrott began his career as a priest of the Vincentian order, and ended it as a Springfield-Cape Girardeau diocesan priest. He retired to Florida in 1987 and died in January 1996.

Ordained: 1950
Retired: 1987
Died: Jan. 31, 1996

1950

Oklahoma City-Tulsa bishop was Eugene Joseph McGuinness (1948-1957)

1951

Washington archbishop was Patrick Aloysius O'Boyle (1947-1973)

1952

Chicago archbishop was Samuel Alphonsus Stritch (1939-1958), followed by Albert Gregory Meyer (1958-1965)

1964

Kansas City-St. Joseph bishop was Charles Herman Helmsing (1962-1977)

St. John's Diocesan Seminary

Kansas City

• Parrott was accused in a June 2011 lawsuit of sexually abusing a St. John's student over a two year period, beginning when the boy was a 14 year-old freshman in the mid-1960s. Parrott was his spiritual advisor and confessor. Parrott's accuser said Parrott would masturbate in front of him, progressing to pushing the boy against walls and forcing the boy's head into the priest's genital area. The boy's grades suffered, and the priest is said to have told him the abuse was punishment for the boy's poor school performance. The boy left St. John's after two years.

1966

Springfield Cape-Girardeau bishop was Ignatius Jerome Strecker (1962-1969), followed by William Wakefield Baum (1970-1973) and Bernard Francis Law (1973-1984)

This was a mission of St. Mary's in Seneca.

Parrott's name no longer carries the c.m. suffix beginning with the 1974 Directory, indicating he left the Vincentians in 1973 to become a diocesan priest.

1987

Law was replaced in Springfield-Cape Girardeau by John Joseph Leibrecht (1984-2008)

Venice bishop was John Joseph Nevins (1984-)

Parrott died Jan. 31, 1996

Sources: Official Catholic Directory (New York: P.J. Kenedy and Sons, 1951-1997)

• SENECA MISSOURI , "GATEWAY TO THE LAKE OF THE CHEROKEES", Thursday, June 5, 1975
• Abuse Victim Wants to Help Others, By Kim Norvell, St. Joseph News-Press, June 25, 2011
• In Memory a Beloved Family Member and Friend to Many, Ancestry.com, NoDate

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 collates Parrott'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 23, 2012