Fr. Walter P. Buetzler: Accused of Sexual Misconduct

Fr. Walter P. Buetzler

Ordained, 1942

Notes: Fr. Walter Buetzler was ordained a priest in the Diocese of Pueblo. In 1953, the Diocese of Pueblo received a report that Fr. Buetzler sexually abused a minor student at St. Joseph in Monte Vista, Colorado. Fr. Buetzler was reportedly transferred in 1954 and continued ministry in California. The survivor reported the abuse again in 1990. Fr. Buetzler was publicly named in the Colorado Attorney General’s Special Master’s Report on “Roman Catholic Clergy Sexual Abuse of Children in Colorado from 1950 to 2019.”

Assignments within the Archdiocese/Dioceses in Colorado: Pueblo

Assignments:

1943-1947 Unknown

1948-1952 St. Patrick’s, Crested Butte, CO (PBL)

1953 Our Lady of Guadalupe, La Junta, CO (PBL)

1954 St. Joseph’s, Monte Vista, CO (PBL)

1955-1956 On Duty Outside the Diocese (PBL); University of San Diego, Alcala Park, CA (SD)

1955-1958 On Duty Outside the Diocese (PBL); 1567 Third Ave., St. Joseph’s Cathedral, San Diego, CA (SD);

1956-1968 On Duty Outside the Diocese (PBL); San Diego College for Men, San Diego, CA (SD)

1969-1987 Retired (SD)

1988 Died