BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — The Diocese of Buffalo announced it has resolved claims against three priests after Independent Review Board (IRB) investigations.
The diocese said in the first case it has accepted the IRB recommendation and made the determination that a child abuse claim against Rev. Louis Dolinic has been substantiated. Another child abuse claim against Dolinic was found to be unsubstantiated. According to the diocese, Dolinic has been removed from ministry since 2018 because of previous child abuse complaints which were substantiated in 2019. He will continue to be on the list of priests with substantiated claims of abuse on the diocese's website.
In the second case, the diocese said it has accepted the IRB recommendation and made the determination that a child sexual abuse claim against Rev. Msgr. Peter Popadick was unsubstantiated and he has been returned to ministry. This was the second time Popadick was placed on leave. The first time was in August 2019 after a lawsuit was filed under New York’s Child Victims Act accusing him of molesting a boy in the 1970s. He was returned to ministry in January 2020 after an investigation into that case and the diocese said, “based on the information available at this time and the refusal of the complainant to cooperate in an independent investigation, it is unable to substantiate the allegations of sexual abuse of a minor” against the pastor.
In the third case, the diocese said it has accepted the IRB recommendation and made the determination that the claim of inappropriate comments communicated to a minor by Rev. Patryk Sobczyk was unsubstantiated.
