Priest With Flossmoor Ties Faces Sex Abuse Allegation: Archdiocese

FLOSSMOOR, IL — A Flossmoor parish and seven others in the Chicago area were notified Saturday that a priest with ties to each had been asked to step aside following an allegation of child sexual abuse, the Archdiocese of Chicago said.

In a release Saturday, the archdiocese said it had notified Flossmoor's St. Veronica (formerly Infant Jesus of Prague) and other parishes that it had asked Fr. William Killeen to step back pending investigation of an allegation of child sexual abuse received last week. The abuse is alleged to have occurred approximately 40 years ago at St. Patricia Parish in Hickory Hills.

Father Killeen denies the allegation, the archdiocese said.

The parishes notified include:

• Infant Jesus of Prague (now St. Veronica), Flossmoor
• St. Michael, Orland Park
• St. Alexander, Palos Heights
• St. Patricia in Hickory Hills
• St. Christopher (now St. Augustine), Midlothian
• St. Francis Xavier, La Grange
• St. Cletus, La Grange
• St. John of the Cross, Western Springs

Retired since 2019, officials said Killeen still celebrates Mass occasionally at St. Francis Xavier Parish and St. Cletus Parish, both in La Grange and St. John of the Cross Parish in Western Springs.

Civil authorities have been notified, and the archdiocese said it has begun its own investigation, also offering the accuser the archdiocese's victim assistance ministry.