Former KC priest who was the subject of dozens of child sexual abuse lawsuits has died
Thomas Reardon, a former Roman Catholic priest in the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph who over the years was named in more than two dozen child sexual abuse lawsuits, was found dead Sunday in a south Kansas City senior living facility. Kansas City police said that officers were dispatched with EMS personnel on a dead body call just after noon Sunday. Upon arrival, they contacted employees who told them the victim was Reardon, a resident. Detectives and crime scene personnel responded to the scene, police said.
“No Missouri priest faced as many child sex abuse allegations as Fr. Thomas M. Reardon, who worked in parishes, at a camp and as a substance abuse counselor,” said David Clohessy, of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, in a statement.
Reardon joined the priesthood in 1967 and resigned in 1989. In 2019, he was among 24 priests named by the Diocese of Kansas City as being credibly accused of sexual abuse of minors.
During his priesthood,
Reardon was the administrator of ‘Camp Little Flower’ in Raytown, which provided educational camping for children ages 7 through 12.
And in the 1980 he was listed as being in charge of the ‘Catholic Youth Organization’.
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