Fr. Robert Dodd: Allegations of Sexual Abuse of a Minor Have Been Admitted, Established or Determined to Be Credible

Fr. Robert Dodd

Ordained: 1964

  • 1965-1968: St. Paul’s, Highland, IL (SFD)
  • 1969-1970: St. Patrick’s, Pana, IL (SFD)
  • 1971: Absent on Leave (SFD)
  • 1972-2013: Unknown (Left Priesthood)
  • 2013: Died

Fr. Robert Dodd allegedly sexually abused a student beginning in approximately 1966, while he worked at St. Paul’s Catholic School in Highland, Illinois. In 1971, Fr. Dodd left the priesthood. He eventually became an attorney and served as mayor of Champaign from 1983 to 1987. In 1994, Fr. Dodd was named in a child sexual abuse lawsuit. In 2018, Fr. Dodd was included on the Diocese of Springfield’s list of clergy with substantiated cases of sexual abuse of a minor. Fr. Dodd’s whereabouts and whether he had access to children from 1972 until his death are unknown.