ARCHDIOCESE OF OKLAHOMA CITY OK

Accused Priests: 13 (not including 3 deacons; 3 were "exonerated through an archdiocesan investigation, a police investigation and/or proceedings of the archdiocese’s review board; of the remaining 8, 5 seem to have been externs or order priests)
Total Priests: NA
Persons Making Allegations: 24
Cost: More than $6,000,000 for settlements and victim counseling

See the Dallas Morning News database entry on Archbishop Eusebius Beltran. The June 2002 database examined the records of bishops and identified those who had allowed accused priests to continue working or had otherwise protected priests accused of sexual abuse. The database is relevant to the bishops' "Nature and Scope" study because the bishops who prepared the surveys for the study are in many cases responsible for the "scope" of the problem.

Local allegations

Daily Oklahoman
February 28, 2004

Sixteen clergy in the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and seven in the Tulsa Diocese have been accused of abuse.

Some bishops, including the head of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, released local figures in recent weeks.

The archdiocese said sex abuse allegations by 24 people were made against 13 priests and three deacons since 1950, the survey period on which a nationwide study was based.

One priest, the Rev. James Rapp, was convicted in 1999 of two molestation charges stemming from allegations that he abused a minor while he served as priest at the Assumption Catholic Church in Duncan. According to the archdiocese, three priests were exonerated through an archdiocesan investigation, a police investigation and/or proceedings of the archdiocese’s review board.

Of the remaining accused, five were working temporarily in the archdiocese and the others have been removed from ministry or are deceased.

The archdiocese said it has paid more than $6 million to settle lawsuits and provide victim counseling.

The archdiocese reported that the majority of the allegations were received by the archdiocese after 2001, many in response to an outreach program initiated by Archbishop Eusebius Beltran of the Oklahoma City archdiocese.

“As members of this faith community, we must always strive to protect children and to respect all people at all times,” Beltran said Friday. “The lessons we have learned from the past two years should enable us to live our faith more fully with the help of God’s grace.”