Former LA Grange Priest Cited in Sex Abuse Documents

By Jane Michaels
The Doings
January 23, 2014

http://lagrange.suntimes.com/news/cletus-LAG-01232014:article

[Thomas Job]

Thomas J. Job. Priest accused of abuse. | Sun-Times Media

Parishioners new in the last 30 years may have been shocked to learn one of the worst offenders in the priest sex abuse scandal once served at St. Cletus Church in La Grange.

The Archdiocese of Chicago released thousands of documents in a settlement this week with victims of sexual abuse by clergy. The effort was aimed at ending secrecy, protecting children, holding officials accountable and encouraging other victims to come forward.

The documents showed a long list of allegations against Thomas Job before, during and after the time he was assigned as an associate pastor at St. Cletus from 1976 to 1982.

While in La Grange, Job is accused of teaching boys, who were in seventh grade through their early years of high school, how to masturbate and abusing them in his quarters at the rectory and a home he owned near Great America.

Job is accused of engaging in sexual activities with a 17-year-old parishioner and three other students at the church. A letter is included in the file in which the priest apologized to one of the boys.

Ordained in 1970, he continued to serve until multiple allegations of misconduct forced him to resign in 1991. He had been under supervision periodically, but still reassigned to other parishes. He began working at the Lake County Alcohol Center in 1990.

In 2005, Cardinal Francis George began the process to laicize Job about the time the Archdiocese reached a settlement with adults who had been abused by Job and 13 other priests. In 2010, Job was formally defrocked or laicized by Pope Benedict.

In 2011, Job, then 67, pleaded guilty to theft and was ordered to repay the Lake County Health Department $39,875 for hours he never worked as a rehabilitation coordinator in an addiction treatment program. He received 36 months of probation, was fined $25,000 and ordered to serve one year of periodic imprisonment.

Contact: jmichaels@pioneerlocal.com