Rev. Philip J. Jacobs-Assignment Record

Assignment Record– Rev. Philip J. Jacobs

Summary of Case: Jacobs was removed from ministry in the Columbus OH diocese in 1993 after reports to the diocese that he had sexually abused children. He may have abused at least 10 Ohio children. He was sent to treatment, after which he went to work as a priest in the Victoria diocese in Vancouver, British Columbia. He was removed from ministry there in 2002 after the news of the abuse allegations in Ohio came to light. He subsequently is said to have worked in a "non-church" job in Europe. In August 2010 Jacobs was arrested as he disembarked from a plane in Victoria upon his arrival from San Francisco. He was charged with sexual assault, sexual interference, and sexual exploitation involving children under the age of 14. He was found guilty in February 2013 of sexually touching one young person. Sentenced in September 2013 to two years' probation and a five-month conditional sentence.

Ordained: 1974

Start	Stop	Assignment	Town/Accusations	State	Position	Notes
1974 Columbus bishop was Edward John Herrmann (1973-1982).	1975					Jacobs is not indexed in the 1975 Directory.
1975	1979	St. Anthony's	Columbus • Jacobs' cousin told his parish priest and the diocese in 1996 that Jacobs molested him in 1976 at a family cottage, when the cousin was 14 years-old.	OH	2/2	Parish had a school with 266-280 students.
1979	1981	St. Philip's	Columbus • In 2002 a 35-year-old man said he had been molested by Jacobs when he was a boy in 1978 and 1979, and that the abuse happened at Jacobs' family cottage.	OH	2/2	Parish had a school with 286-285 students.
1981 Hermann was succeeded as Columbus bishop by James Anthony Griffin (1983-2004). Boston archbishop was Humberto Sousa Medeiros (1970-1983), followed by Bernard Francis Law (1984-2002).	1986	On Leave for Studies/Boston College	Boston	MA
1986	1993	St. Paul's	Westerville	OH	4/4 In residence	Parish had a school with 600-605 students.
1986	1993	Pontifical College Josephinum	Columbus • Bishop Griffin is quoted in 2002 as saying "...there were a couple of complaints and some other....reports..." that lead to Jacobs removal from ministry in the Columbus diocese." • A 2010 news report states that ten people had accused Jacobs of having sexually abused them as children while he was a priest in Ohio.	OH	Professor; Vice Rector	This was a diocesan seminary.
1993	1995	Absent on Sick Leave				Jacobs was sent to treatment after his removal from ministry in 1993, spending nine months at the Institute for Living in Hartford, CT.
1995	1996	On Duty Outside the Diocese
1996 Victoria bishop was Remi Joseph De Roo (1962-1999).	1998	St. Rose of Lima	Sooke, Vancouver Island • Jacobs was accused and charged in Aug. 2010 of having sexually abused children under age 14 while at this parish. The abuse is said to have been perpetrated against three children while he was at this and his next assignments, between 1996 and 2001.	B.C. Canada		Jacobs is not indexed beyond the 1997 Directory. Per news reports, Jacobs went to the Victoria diocese after being removed from ministry in Ohio. Victorian diocesan officials were given Jacobs' records by the Columbus diocese. Per Roussin, Jacobs was assessed by psychiatrists, was required to be seen regularly by a psychiatrist, and was supposed to be monitored by two senior priests and two lay members of the church. He was also told not to be alone with individual children or small groups of children. In Jacobs' December 2012 trial it was disclosed that he was assigned to St. Rose of Lima to limit his access to children.
1998 De Roo was replaced as Victoria bishop by Raymond Roussin, S.M. (1999-2004).	2002	St. Joseph the Worker	Saanich, Vancouver Island • In 2002, after news of past allegations against him and his removal from St. Joseph's, a local person reported having been victimized as a minor by Jacobs, but police didn't press charges due to insufficient evidence. • Jacobs was accused and charged in August 2010 of having offended against children under age 14 while at this parish.	B.C. Canada	Pastor in 1996-2002	Jacobs was removed from ministry in the Victoria diocese in May 2002 due to revelations of past allegations of child sexual abuse in Ohio.
	2010			Europe	non-church position	Jacobs was arrested August 4, 2010 in Vancouver, B.C. at the Victoria airport for sexual assault, sexual interference, and sexual exploitation.
2010						In Decemeber 2012 Jacobs denied sexually abusing the Vancouver boys he was charged with abusing. He admitted, however, to misdeeds in the past with boys in Ohio, explaining it was to "teach the boys to masturbate." Found guilty in February 2013 of sexually touching a young person, and not guilty on three other counts. Sentenced in September 2013 to two years' probation, and a five-month conditional sentence. He was also ordered to stay away from those under age 16, to provide a DNA sample, undergo counseling, and to register as a sex offender.

Source: Official Catholic Directory (New York: P.J. Kenedy and Sons, 1976-1997)

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 Jacob'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 October 11, 2016.