Assignment Record– Rev. Ronan C. Liles, o.p. aka Charles R. or Charles B. Liles

Summary of Case: A Dominican priest, Liles was accused in a 1997 lawsuit of the sexual abuse of two boys, who were brothers, beginning when they were ages 11 and 12 in 1969 and ending in 1975. Liles' modus operandi was said to have been to treat the boys to dinners, movies and miniature golf, and to ply them with alcohol. His accusers said they were also sexually abused by Dominican Brother Edmund Frost, who "tag-teamed" with Liles. Both Dominicans resided at the Minneapolis parish where the abuse is said to have taken place. Liles was living in August 2020 in Texas.    

Born: September 6, 1942
Ordained: 1969

1969

St. Paul and Minneapolis archbishop was Leo Binz (1961-1975), followed by John Robert Roach (1975-1995)

Minneapolis

• Liles was accused in a 1997 lawsuit of sexually abusing two boys, who were brothers, from 1969-1975. The brothers said they met Liles at a Boy Scout camp in 1969, when they were 11 and 12 years old. The abuse was said to have occurred at the camp with Liles showering with them, kissing and hugging them, and progressing to attempted fellatio and anal penetration during overnights at St. Albert's rectory. They said Liles treated them to dinners out, mini-golf, and movies, and plied them with alcohol. They also accused Brother Edmund Frost, o.p., who resided with Liles in the rectory, saying Frost and Liles sexually abused them in a "tag team fashion".

St. Albert's had a school with 259-160 students.

Liles is indexed in the 1970-1971 Directories as at St. Albert's, but he is not listed in the St. Paul & Minneapolis archdiocesan pages as there. The 1972 Directory indexes him as Ronan C. and lists him in the archdiocesan pages at St. Albert's as Charles R. Liles. The 1974-1978 Directories index Liles as Charles B, but list him in the archdiocesan pages as Ronan C.

Frost was at St. Albert's with Liles until 1975.

Liles is not indexed beyond the 1983 Directory.

He was dismissed from the order and dispensed from his vows in 1985.

In August 2020 he was living in Texas. 

Source: Official Catholic Directory (New York: P.J. Kenedy and Sons, 1970-1983)

• Doe v. Arch. of St. Paul; Court of Appeals, MN; C9-99-2164
• Dominican Order Settles Sex Abuse Suit, A Minnesota Man Now in His 40s Was Awarded $450,000 and Therapy Costs for Suffering Repeated Abuse by a Brother in the 1970s, By Pamela Miller, March 21, 2006
• St. Paul & Minneapolis List of Credibly Accused Priests, released Dec. 5, 2013

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 Liles'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 August 29, 2020.