Fr. Robert A. Stepek
Ordained: 1981
- 1981-1983: St. Symphorosa and Seven Sons, Chicago, IL (CHI)
- 1983-1991: St. Christina, Chicago, IL (CHI)
- 1991-1998: St. Joseph, Homewood, IL (CHI)
- 1998-2010: St. Albert the Great, Burbank, IL (CHI)
- 2007-2010: On Leave
- 2011-2016: Unknown
- 2016: Died
Fr. Robert A. Stepek was ordained in 1981. In 2006 Fr. Stepek was removed from ministry after a lawsuit accused him of sexually abusing two brothers, then 9 and 16, when Fr. Stepek was pastor at St. Symphorosa in the early 1980s. In response to the allegations Fr. Stepek filed a defamation lawsuit against the two brothers, which was eventually thrown out. In 2006 the Archdiocese of Chicago’s independent review board issued a written statement that “there was reasonable cause to suspect that sexual abuse of minors [by Fr. Stepek] occurred.” Still, in 2013, Fr. Stepek was ruled a priest in good canonical standing in the Catholic Church. Before his death Fr. Stepek worked as a community resource officer with the Burbank police department. Fr. Stepek died on June 25, 2016. Fr. Stepek’s status as a priest and whether he had access to children from 2007 until his death are unknown. Fr. Stepek is on the Archdiocese of Chicago’s list of “Archdiocesan Priests with Allegations of Sexual Misconduct with Minors that were not Sustained after Canonical Trial.”