Former Elk Grove priest named in abuse files
Newly released Archdiocese of Chicago documents include sexual abuse claims against a former associate pastor at Queen of the Rosary Parish in Elk Grove Village from when he served at another church.
Onetime secret files about former priest John A. Robinson, 68, were released by the archdiocese Thursday. He was Queen of the Rosary's associate pastor from 1994 to 2003.
Documents show a complaint that Robinson sexually abused a boy was made with the archdiocese in October 2002. Robinson was accused of molesting the 14-year-old boy in the 1970s while associate pastor at St. Priscilla Parish in Chicago.
“John Robinson acknowledged seeing the boy ... and utilizing bare-buttocks spanking as a disciplinary procedure, although he cannot recall the issues for which the boy was being punished,” an internal archdiocese document states. “John Robinson does not acknowledge any sexual contact.”
Robinson had a brief stop at St. Emily Parish in Mount Prospect in 1979. He then went to churches in Oak Forest and Chicago from 1979 to 1994 before his assignment in Elk Grove Village.
He had been living with other priests accused of sexual misconduct at Cardinal Stritch Retreat House in Mundelein, but documents indicate that no longer is the case. Robinson's most recent living arrangement was blacked out in a file for a reporting period from January 2012 to May 2013 and he couldn't be located for comment.
Details about Robinson's association with former priest James Ray are part of the 2012-13 reporting document. Ray was removed as associate pastor at Transfiguration Parish in Wauconda in 1991 because of claims he sexually abused minors at other churches, according to documents and archdiocese officials.
“Former priest ... Jim Ray was picking John up and taking him out of the facility,” the document states. “A female nurse reported to the compliance supervisor that Jim had made sexual inappropriate comments to her. Jim Ray has been restricted from coming to (the building) and John Robinson is (prohibited) from going out or visiting with Jim Ray.”