- By Jill Harmacinski
LAWRENCE — A settlement for another sexual abuse victim of the late Father John J. Gallagher, who was assigned to St. Mary’s Church in Lawrence in the 1970s, was recently reached, said attorney Mitchell Garabedian.
Garabedian, of Boston, who is well known for representing sexual abuse victims of the Catholic church, said this the 15th claim he’s settled involving Gallagher, of the Augustinian Order. The claims involved 14 females and one male, he said.
The recent settlement was in the low six figures, Garabedian said.
“My courageous client, a female, was sexually abused by Father Gallagher on at least five different occasions from approximately 1973 to 1976. At the time of the sexual abuse, my client was on the basketball team affiliated with the Catholic Inter-Parochial Schools and Father Gallagher was the coach and also a priest at St. Mary’s Church,” Garabedian said.
According to Gallagher’s obituary, he died in 2006 at age 87. He was assigned to schools in New York, Pennsylvania and Florida, as well as locally at Merrimack College in 1969 and 1970 and St. Mary’s from 1972 to 1979.
In August 2020, Garabedian reached another settlement with Catholic Church to pay $1.4 million to settle a lawsuit involving another one of Gallagher’s victims from St. Mary’s School. Gallagher was both a coach and a teacher at the school.
The victims at the time — both female and male — ranged from 8 to 14 years old, Garabedian said.
A similar settlement was announced in 2018, when the Catholic church paid $1 million after five men and three women filed a lawsuit stating they were sexually abused by Gallagher and the Rev. Robert Turnbull during the 1970s and 1980s in Lawrence and Reading.
The Augustinians are an order of Catholic priests whose primary duties are teaching.
Follow staff reporter Jill Harmacinski on Twitter @EagleTribJill.
A claim of clergy sexual abuse against Augustinian Fr. John A. Gallagher of St. Mary’s Parish, Lawrence, MA, has recently settled in the low six figures
A courageous woman who was a student of St. Mary’s School, Lawrence, MA, reported that she was sexually abused as a young child from approximately 1973-1976 by Fr. John A. Gallagher. She was represented by Attorney Mitchell Garabedian of Boston, MA.
A few years ago, a one-million-dollar settlement for several victims of Fr. John Gallagher from St. Mary’s School, Lawrence, MA, was reached.
MEDIA RELEASE – MONDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2021
What
A press conference announcing a low six-figure settlement for a courageous woman who alleged that she had been sexually abused as a young child at St. Mary’s School in Lawrence, MA by serial pedophile Fr. John A. Gallagher, OSA – Augustinian
When
Tuesday, October 19, 2021 at 11:30 am
Where
On the public sidewalk in front of St. Mary of the Assumption Church, 300 Haverhill Street, Lawrence, MA, 01840
Who
Robert M. Hoatson, Ph.D., co-founder and President of Road to Recovery, Inc., a non-profit charity that assists victims of sexual abuse and their families; a former Boston-area Christian Brother; former priest of the Archdiocese of Newark New Jersey; and, a victim/survivor of clergy sexual abuse
Why
(see above)
Contacts
Robert M. Hoatson, Ph.D., Road to Recovery, Inc. – 862-368-2800 –
