Rev. Thomas H. Teczar-Assignment

Assignment Record– Rev. Thomas H. Teczar

Summary of Case: Teczar has been accused of sexually abusing children in Massachusetts and Texas. He was forced out of the Worcester, MA diocese in 1986 for sexually abusing boys. He later became a visiting priest in the Fort Worth diocese whose bishop, Joseph Delaney, knew of Teczar's history and acknowledged the risk in hiring him. Teczar was convicted in 2007 of having sexually assaulted an 11-year-old Texas boy in 1990. That conviction was overturned in 2007, but a retrial in 2009 resulted again in conviction. He was sentenced to 50 years in prison. His victim testified that Teczar had shown him pornography and plied him with alcohol and marijuana. The Vatican announced that Teczar was laicized in September 2011. He died in prison in March 2015.

Ordained: 1967

Start	Stop	Assignment	Town/Accusations	State	Position	Notes
mid 1960s		Nazareth Home for Boys	Leicester • Bathed a 10 year old boy. Accused by another boy of inappropriate touch during a swimming outing. Teczar was fired as a result.	MA		Nazareth Home was a Catholic Home for troubled youths. Teczar worked here while attending seminary.
1967 Worcester diocese bishop was Bernard Joseph Flanagan (1959-1983)	1970	St. Joan of Arc	Worcester • In 1967, prior to Teczar's ordination, Bishop Flanagan wrote in response to an inquiry from Catholic University's dean, of Teczar's "predilection for intimate and rather exclusive companionship with young boys". • Teczar had been kicked out of seminary twice. He was sued in 2003 for sexually abusing a 16 year old boy over four years, beginning in 1968.	MA	4/4 ,3/3 Pastor was Rev. John F. Sullivan. During 1967-1968 second priest was Joseph P. Mahoney, and third was Thomas W. O'Connor. During 1968-1970, second priest was Edmund F. Falvey.
1970	1972	St. Mary's	Uxbridge • Found by a civil jury in 2002 to have sexually abused a boy at St. Mary's in 1971. There are known to be five victims from St. Mary's.	MA	3/3 Teczar worked under Revs. Francis R. Rupprecht and John E. Kelley.	St. Mary's had a school with 120-103 boys and 105-98 girls.
1972	1975	St. Ann's	Leominster	MA	3/3 Teczar worked under Revs. Joseph J. Porello and Benedetto Visalli.	St. Ann's had a school with 187-157 students.
1975	1977	St. Aloysius	Gilbertville	MA	2/2 Pastor was Rev. Walter D. Mara.
1977	1980	Immaculate Conception	Worcester	MA	4/4 Pastor was Rev. Edward T. Connors. Priest in the second spot was William J. Raftery, followed by Teczar. In residence was Rev. Paul T. O'Connell.
1980	1983	Sacred Heart of Jesus	Gardner	MA	2/4 Pastor was Rev. James A. Lehane. In the third spot was Rev. John A. Dwyer. In residence was Rev. Joseph A. Adamo.	Parish had a school with 203-237 students.
1983 Worcester Bishop was Timothy Joseph Harrington (1983-1994)	1984	St. Aloysius	Rochdale	MA	1/2 Working under Teczar was Rev. Stephen D. Johnson.
1983	1984	St. Jude		MA		St. Jude was a mission of St. Aloysius.
1985		House of Affirmation	Montara • Sent for treatment for "problems with anger, sexuality and alcohol use."	CA		House of Affirmation was a Treatment Center for priests.
1984	1987	Absent on Leave	• Teczar was forced out of the Worcester diocese after accusations that he was "inappropriate" with a teen-age boy.
1987	1988					Not indexed in the 1988 Directory.
1988	1989	On Duty Outside the Diocese				The 1989 Directory indexes Teczar as On Duty Outside the Diocese, but does not list him in the Worcester or Fort Worth Diocesan pages.
1988 Fort Worth bishop was Joseph Patrick Delaney (1981-2005)		St. Patrick's Cathedral	Fort Worth	TX	Per news reports, Teczar worked at the Cathedral for a few months under Rev. William Hoover.	Hired in 1988 by Fort Worth bishop, Delaney, after having been in treatment and out of work for about four years. Delaney knew of Teczar's history of abusing children, and acknowledged the "risk involved" in hiring him. Hoover later admitted to having molested boys.
Aug. 1988	Aug.1989	St. Michael's	Bedford • The parents of a previous Massachusetts victim of Teczar discovered he was at St. Michael's, and wrote a scathing letter to Bishop Harrington, with copies sent to Bishop Delaney in TX and to the Vatican. They filed a criminal complaint and Teczar was fined in 1991 for alcohol and delinquency charges involving young males. Delaney made Teczar pastor of four rural churches in the Fr. Worth diocese.	TX	Assistant Pastor	This assignment is per news reports.
1990	1993	St. Rita's	Ranger • Arrested in 2002 and charged with the 1990 rape of 12 year old Ranger boy. • Three men in 2007 received a settlement from the Fort Worth diocese, due to claims that Teczar had sexually abused them at St. Rita's when they were children. • Another man in 2008 successfully sued the diocese for sexual abuse by Teczar when he was a child at St. Rita's.	TX	1/1
1990	1992	Cisco Junior College	Ranger	TX
1990	1992	Ranger Junior College	Ranger	TX
1990	1993	St. John's	Strawn	TX	1/1	The 1990-1993 time frame is per a Ft. Worth diocese press release.
1990	1993	Holy Rosary	Cisco	TX	Pastor	This assignment is per news reports as well as per a Ft. Worth diocese press release.
1990	1993	St. Francis Xavier	Eastland • Left Texas abruptly in 1993 when there was a criminal investigation into child molestation in Eastland County, TX. Two of Teczar's friends were the subjects of the investigation. Both were later convicted. Teczar returned to Massachussets, and lived in Dudley.	TX	Pastor	This assignment is per news reports. as well as per a Ft. Worth diocese press release.
1993	2003	Absent on Leave	Dudley • Teczar was arrested and charged in 2002 with raping a 12 year old boy in Ranger, Texas in 1990.	MA		Teczar is not indexed in the Directories after 2003.
2003	2007		Dudley • Teczar was found guilty of sexual assault of a child March 7, 2007 Sentenced to 25 years in prison on three counts of sexual assault of a child and 15 years on one count of indecency. Sentences were to run concurrently.	MA
2007	2015	Prison		TX		Teczar's 2007 conviction was reversed in Oct. 2008. In a March 2009 retrial, Teczar was convicted of the rape of sexually abuse of an 11 year-old boy in Ranger, TX in the 1990s. He was sentenced to 50 years in prison. Teczar was defrocked by the Vatican in 2011. He died in March 2015.

Sources: Official Catholic Directory (New York: Kenedy & Sons, 1968-2003).

• Bishop Hired 2 Priests after Suspensions, By Brooks Egerton, Dallas Morning News, August 12, 1998
• Letters Suggest Diocese Knew about Child Abuser, By Richard Nangle, Sunday Telegram, (Massachusetts), February 10, 2002
• Priests Named in Sex Abuse Settlement, By Richard Nangle and Kathleen A. Shaw, Worcester Telegram & Gazette, February 26, 2002
• Dallas Morning News, June 12, 2002
• Jury Rules Teczar Committed Abuse, By Kathleen A. Shaw, Telegram & Gazette, October 4, 2002
• Priest Accused of Raping Texas Boy Arrested, By Brooks Egerton, Dallas Morning News,, December 14, 2002
• Letter Implored Diocese to Take Accused Priest, By Richard Nangle, Telegram & Gazette, April 21, 2003
• Diocese Settles Sex Abuse Lawsuit, By Darren Barbee, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, April 2, 2005
• Diocese Settles Abuse Lawsuit, By Darren Barbee, Fort Worth Star-Telegram , April 8, 2005
• Blinded by Faith?, Part 1, Long-Secret Documents Reveal That Fort Worth Bishop, Was Aware of Priest's Troubled Past, By Darren Barbee, Star-Telegram Staff Writer, June 5, 2005
• Priest Is Given 25 Years for Sex Abuse, By Darren Barbee, Fort Worth Star-Telegram,March 8, 2007
• Priest's Sentencing on Sex Charge Applauded, By Bronislaus B. Kush, Telegram & Gazette,
March 9, 2007
• Diocese Reaches Settlement with Priest's Accusers, By Darren Barbee, Star-Telegram, December 20, 2007
• Accuser of Priests Agrees to Settle, By Darren Barbee, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, February 15, 2008
• Former Fort Worth Priest's Sexual Assault Conviction Overturned, By Darren Barbee, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, October 23, 2008
• Priest Convicted of Sexually Abusing Boy in Ranger in "90s, By Darren Barbeed, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, March 26, 2009
• Jury Gives Priest 50 Years, By Celinda Emison, Abilene Reporter-News, March 27, 2009
• Former Fort Worth Catholic Diocese Priest Sentenced to 50 Years for Sex Abuse, By Brooks Egerton, Dallas Morning News, March 27, 2009
• Pope Ousts Rev.Teczar, By Bronislaus B. Kush, Telegram & Gazette, September 9, 2011
• Teczar Laicized by Pope, Catholic Free Press, September 9, 2011

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This assignment record collates Teczar'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 April 11, 2016.