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

Fr. Lee Ryan

Ordained: 1968

  • 1969-1973: St. Liborius, Steger, IL (JOL)
  • 1974: St. Joseph’s, Addison, IL (JOL)
  • 1975-1985: St. Anne, Joliet, IL (JOL)
  • 1986-1990: Special Assignment (JOL); Director of Vocations, St. Charles Borromeo, Lockport, IL (JOL)
  • 1991: St. Francis of Assisi, Bolingbrook, IL (JOL)
  • 1992-2010: St. Edmund, Watseka, IL (JOL)
  • 2011-2016: Leave of Absence
  • 2016: Died

Fr. Lee Ryan was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Joliet in 1968. In 2010, a survivor accused Fr. Ryan of child sexual abuse in 1974 at Providence Catholic High School in New Lenox, Illinois. Fr. Ryan who was removed from ministry in
2010, and temporarily returned to ministry in 2012 only to be removed again later that year. Fr. Ryan has been named in at least one civil lawsuit. Fr. Ryan was named on the Diocese of Joliet’s list of “Diocesan Priests with Credible Allegation(s) of Sexual Misconduct with Minors Made Against Them While Serving in the Diocese of Joliet” with “Substantiated Allegations.” Fr. Ryan’s status as a priest, his whereabouts, and whether he had access to children from 2011 through his death in 2016 are unknown.