Sommers Schwartz Investigates Alleged Sexual Abuse by Father Timothy Crowley, Seeks to Assist Survivors

Detroit, Michigan – Michigan legal firm Sommers Schwartz, PC is actively investigating the severe allegations of sexual abuse involving Father Timothy Crowley, a former priest of multiple parishes in Michigan. The investigation follows several reports of abuse dating back to the early 1980s.

Father Crowley was ordained as a priest at Holy Cross Parish in Lansing, MI, in 1976 and later served at Holy Rosary Catholic Church in Flint and Saint Mary, Star of the Sea in Jackson. While serving at Saint Mary’s in Lansing in 1982, the priest allegedly began sexually abusing a young 10-year-old altar boy. The abuse is said to have continued through Crowley’s appointments at Saint Anthony Church in Hillsdale and Saint Thomas the Apostle in Ann Arbor.

In 1993, a clandestine settlement agreement worth $200,000 was made between the Diocese of Lansing and the boy’s family. In return, the victim signed a non-disclosure agreement, and Father Crowley was subsequently removed from the Lansing ministry.

Despite warnings from the Lansing Diocese revealing Father Crowley’s troubling past, he was later appointed chancellor for the Archdiocese of Anchorage, Alaska. His tenure in Alaska ended in 2002 when he was defrocked by the Archdiocese after abuse allegations surfaced. Father Crowley was later charged with eight counts of sexual criminal conduct in 2019 by Washtenaw County District Court.

Sommers Schwartz clergy abuse attorneys Lisa Esser-Weidenfeller, Matthew Curtis, and Jay Yasso are now dedicated to helping survivors of sexual abuse. The legal trio has a successful track record, having secured millions in settlements for victims of high-profile predators such as Dr. Larry Nassar—former Michigan State University and USAG team physician—and Dr. Robert Anderson, the physician responsible for sexually abusing students, athletes, and other patients during his thirty-five-year tenure at the University of Michigan.

CASE INFORMATION
DIOCESE OF MARQUETTE INVESTIGATION
Dana Nessel – Michigan Attorney General
Report Released October 27, 2022