Rev. Michael E. Brewer

Summary of Case: Brewer was accused in a 1993 lawsuit of having molested a 17-year-old boy in 1990 at a Kansas City, MO parish. Other families from the parish are a said to have complained that Brewer inappropriately touched their boys as well. Brewer was transferred to another parish. He left the priesthood in around 1993, and moved to Colorado in 1995. Brewer maintains his innocence. He became an attorney and in 2012 is Executive Director of a foundation in Boulder whose mission is to serve disadvantaged youth and their families.

Ordained
: 1986
Incardinated: Kansas City-St. Joseph

     

Start Stop Parish/Assignment Town/Accusations State Position Notes

1986

Kansas City-St. Joseph bishop was John Joseph Sullivan (1977-1993)

1991 St. Elizabeth's

Kansas City

Brewer and the diocese were sued in 1993 by a couple whose son told them Brewer molested him when he was 17 years-old in 1990. Their son was invited with a friend to spend a night at the rectory, After an evening of watching movies, the couple's son said Brewer touched and fondled him while he (the boy) was sleeping. They confronted church officials who are said to have told them "this happens to young men all the time", and that their son "would get over it". Further, they said diocesan officials told them to "forgive and forget".

Several parish families are said to have accused Brewer of "improperly touching" their sons.

MO 2/2, 2/3 St. Elizabeth's had a school with 398-253 students.
1991 1993 St. John La Lande Blue Springs MO 2/2 St. John La Lande had a school with 233 students.

1993

Sullivan was succeeded by Raymond James Boland (1993-2005)

1995   Silver Springs MD   Brewer left the priesthood sometime before Sept. 1994. He may have left Missouri to live in Silver Springs, MD in 1993. Silver Springs is the home of St. Luke's Institute, a facility which treats priests who have sexually abused minors.
1995 2012     CO  

Brewer is known in Jan. 2012 to be Executive Director of the Brett Family Foundation in Boulder, CO. Per his bio. on the Foundation's website, Brewer arrived in Colorado in 1995. "He was the first executive director of the Western Colorado AIDS Project, headquartered in Grand Junction, before moving to Denver to attend law school at the University of Denver. After graduating, Mike served as legal director of the Colorado Legal Initiatives Project (CLIP), the legal advocacy organization for the state's gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community. After CLIP merged with the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Community Center of Colorado (The Center), he became The Center's public policy director. Mike's community involvement has included service as a member of Mayor Wellington Webb's GLBT advisory committee, chair of Mayor John Hickenlooper's GLBT Commission, and chair of the board of the ACLU of Colorado. Amongst his other interests, Mike is a language enthusiast and has spent significant time in Mexico learning Spanish."

Brewer has maintained that he is innocent.

 

Sources: Official Catholic Directory (New York: P.J. Kenedy and Sons, 1987-1993)

Diocese Alters Its Policy on Clergy Abuse, By Rick Montgomery, Kansas City Star [Kansas & Missouri], September 14, 1994
Diocese out of Lawsuit over Abuse, By Joe Lambe, Kansas City Star, October 14, 1994
03/05/96 MICHAEL GIBSON v. FATHER MICHAEL BREWER, COURT OF APPEALS OF MISSOURI, WESTERN DISTRICT, FindACase.com
Churches Are Open to Suits, Court Says, By Joe Lambe, Kansas City Star, March 6, 1996
Decision Restricts Liability of Church in Sex Abuse Cases, By Joe Lambe, Kansas City Star, August 20, 1997
Sex abuse victims want action on two predators, SNAP, Feb. 16, 2010
http://www.brettfoundation.org/staff



Priests in a Parish: We use the following convention to show a priest's place among the clergy of a parish: 1/2 means that he is the first priest listed in the Official Catholic Directory (usually the pastor) and that there is a total of two priests at the parish. The shorthand 3/4 means that the priest is listed third on a four-priest roster. See our sample page from the Directory.

Note: The Official Catholic Directory aims to report the whereabouts of Catholic priests in the United States on January 1 of the Directory's publication year. Our working assumption is that a priest listed in the Directory for a given year was at the same assignment for part of the previous year as well. However, Kenedy and Sons will sometimes accept updates well into the year of publication. Diocesan clergy records are rarely available to correct this information. The Directory is also sometimes misleading or wrong. We have tried to create an accurate assignment record, given the source materials and their limitations. Assignment records are a work in progress and we are always improving the records that we post. Please email us with new information and corrections.

This assignment record collates Brewer's career history as it is represented in the Official Catholic Directory with allegations as reported in the media. We make no representation regarding the truth of the allegation we report, and we remind our readers that the U.S. legal system presumes that a person accused of or charged with a crime is innocent until proven guilty. Similarly, individuals who may be defendants in civil actions are presumed not to be liable for such claims unless a plaintiff proves otherwise. Admissions of guilt or liability are not typically a part of civil or private settlements. For more information, see our posting policy.

This assignment record was last updated on March 16, 2012