7 priest abuse cases reported in La Salle County, 2 in Bureau County, 1 in Marshall County

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul on Tuesday released a report detailing information on 451 Catholic priests and religious brothers who abused almost 2,000 children in the state over more than seven decades.

Of those cases, the report included 51 documented cases in the Diocese of Peoria, which includes La Salle, Bureau, Putnam and Marshall counties, among 21 other counties. Of those cases, 23 had served in parishes in La Salle, Bureau, Putnam and Marshall counties at some time. Seven of those abuse cases were reported in La Salle County, two in Bureau County and one in Marshall County.

The attorney general’s report detailed priests with substantiated cases, the parishes and the timeline of when they served. Some narratives were included in the report. One narrative focused on George Piland’s abuse of a boy in the mid-1960s at St. Stephen School in Streator.

Here are the clerics who were assigned to parishes in La Salle, Bureau, Putnam and Marshall counties that the report identified with substantiated cases against them:

Robert O. Barnett

1964-1966: Abuse reported in La Salle County

1966: St. Francis of Assisi, Ottawa

Walter Bruening

(Time range unavailable) St. Mary and St. Joseph, Henry

John Joseph Casey

1940s: Abuse location unknown

1940s: St. Patrick, La Salle

Louis Condon

1958-2000: Abuse location unknown

(Time range unavailable) St. Mary, DePue

1982: St. Margaret Hospital, Spring Valley

Robert Creager

1972-1982: Abuse reported in La Salle County

(Time range unavailable) St. Patrick, Ottawa

Francis Engels

1976-1984: Abuse reported in Bureau County

1970: St. Columba, Ottawa

John V. Farris

(Time range unavailable) St. Patrick, La Salle

William Harbert

1981: Immaculate Conception, Ohio

1977: St. John, Walnut

1992: St. Joseph Home, Lacon

George Hiland

1970: Abuse reported in La Salle County

(Time range unavailable) St. Stephen, Streator

(Time range unavailable) St. Patrick, Arlington

(Time range unavailable) Sacred Heart Mission, Dimmick

(Time range unavailable) St. Thomas, Dalzell

William Isermann

Abuse reported: 1950s-1970s in La Salle County

1958: St. Patrick, Ottawa

1958: St. Patrick, Ransom

(Time range unavailable) St. Mary, DePue

1963: Immaculate Conception, Streator

1964: St. Peter and Paul: Leonore

Robert Hughes

1950s-1970s: Allegations in La Salle County

M. Duane Leclercq

1989: St. Theresa, Earlville

1994: St. Patrick, La Salle

2003: Sacred Heart, Granville

2003: St. Patrick, Hennepin

John Onderko

1971: Abuse reported in La Salle County

1962: St. Hyacinth, La Salle

1980: Holy Cross, Mendota

1993: Resurrection, La Salle

Toussaint Perron

1992: Abuse reported at St. John, Walnut

Gordon Pillon

(Time range unavailable) St. Patrick, La Salle

(Time range unavailable) St. Hyacinth, La Salle

Gregory James Plunkett

1988: St. Columba, Ottawa

Samuel Pusateri

1989-1990: Abuse reported at St. Bede

1980-1991: St. Bede, Peru

Kenneth Roberts

1980s: Abuse reported in La Salle County

Ronald Roth

1966: Holy Family, Oglesby

1978: St. Patrick, Ransom

1983: St. John, Lostant

John J. Ryan

1951: St. Patrick, Ottawa

Laurence Schumacher

1966: Abuse reported in Marshall County

1930: Immaculate Conception, Streator

1947: St. Mary, Henry

1970: St. Theresa, Earlville

1971: Immaculate Conception, Streator

Bernard Tomaszewski