#USA #IL – A lawsuit filed in late July 2026 in Sangamon County Circuit Court accused the Roman Catholic Bishop of Springfield in Illinois of enabling and concealing the repeated sexual abuse of a young altar boy by a former priest in the early 1990s.
The complaint, brought by the law firm Gould Grieco & Hensley PLLC on behalf of an unnamed plaintiff identified as John Doe, alleged that Father John O’Connell sexually abused the boy multiple times between approximately 1991 and 1994. The incidents were said to have taken place at St. Mary’s Catholic School and Parish in Taylorville, where the plaintiff served as an altar boy and attended school. According to the lawsuit, the abuse occurred on church grounds, including during altar boy training and preparation for Mass.
Father O’Connell died in 2002. The suit contended that the diocese had never publicly identified him as a priest facing allegations of sexual misconduct involving minors. It further claimed the diocese allowed clergy to be alone with children without supervision, failed to implement adequate safeguards to prevent abuse, and failed to report misconduct to authorities.
“This was about power and access,” said Michael Grieco, founding partner of the firm, in a statement accompanying the filing. “A priest took advantage of his authority to abuse a child while the Church looked the other way.”
Charlie Terry, a partner at the firm, stated that a policy prohibiting priests from isolating children would have helped prevent the alleged abuse, but the diocese did not enact such measures. Attorney Georgia Booth added that parents place extraordinary trust in religious leaders and that institutions failing to protect children must be held accountable.
In response, the Diocese of Springfield issued a statement saying it does not comment on pending litigation. The diocese provided contact information for reporting allegations of abuse, including its Child Abuse Reporting and Investigation number (217-321-1155), the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services Abuse Hotline (1-800-25-ABUSE), and local police. It also noted that a Victim Assistance Coordinator was available to assist anyone who believed they had been victimized.
The lawsuit sought accountability from the diocese for its alleged failures in protecting children under its care decades earlier. The case remained pending as of the initial reports.
Image: St. Mary’s Catholic School and Parish in Taylorville.
