Credibly Accused

Search lists of U.S. Catholic clergy that have been deemed credibly accused of sexual abuse or misconduct.

Published Jan. 28, 2020

This database was last updated in January 2020 and should only be used as a historical snapshot of the lists published by dioceses and religious orders. There may be changes to those records that are not reflected here.

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Archdiocese of Boston, Massachusetts

William L Butler

Status: Deceased

Appeared under the heading: “Categories of Archdiocesan Clergy Accused of Sexual Abuse of a Child - E. Cases Involving Deceased Clergy for Whom Criminal or Canonical Proceedings Were Not Completed But The Existence of Allegations Has Been Publicized.”

Birth Year: 1934

Ordination year: 1961

Reported assignment history:

Assistant,St Benedict Parish,Somerville, 02/14/61 - 02/12/62
Assistant,St Thomas Aquinas Parish,Jamaica Plain, 02/13/62 - 06/06/66
Assistant,St Mary of the Assumption,Hull, 06/07/66 - 04/27/67
Chaplain,St Patrick's Manor,Boston, 04/28/67 - 03/14/69
Technical Assistant/In Res,Sacred Hearts Parish,Malden, 03/15/69 - 06/03/69
Technical Assistant/In Res,St John the Evangelist Parish,Cambridge, 06/04/69 - 02/28/76
Associate Pastor,Sacred Heart,Medford, 03/01/76 - 10/31/86
Parochial Vicar Temp,Immaculate Conception Parish,Salem, 11/01/86 - 12/29/86
Administrator,St Mary of Assumption,Revere, 12/30/86 - 11/23/87
Pastor,St Mary of the Assumption,Revere, 11/24/87 - 08/26/02
Administrative Leave, 08/27/02

If you find an error in the data or would like to suggest changes, contact us.

Sources: U.S Catholic dioceses and religious orders, ProPublica reporting, Pontifical Yearbook (2019)

Data entry by: Tatyana Bellamy-Walker, Grace Haley, Samantha Maldonado, Spencer Norris, Anna Pouza, Lilia Saul

You can download this complete dataset at the ProPublica Data Store.