Ordained: 1942
Status: Accused
Died: 02/17/1992
Diocese: Archdiocese of Baltimore MD
Father Frederick Duke, Monsignor, was accused in 1988 of sexually abusing a boy during 7th and 8th grades in 1953-1954. The victim received a $25K settlement from Duke.
Father Frederick Duke admitted in the same year to sexually abusing 26 children from 1944-1961, with seven victims later coming forward. The abuse included oral and anal rape, and many victims reported the abuse to other priests and church authorities, to no avail.
In one case, Father John Tierney did speak to Father Frederick Duke in the early 1950s, and the abuse of that victim stopped.
One victim said in 1993 that he was abused over two years in the 1940s, starting at age 10, and he told another priest in confession who swore him to secrecy. Duke also sent other victims to confession. The Archdiocese knew of Duke’s sexual abuse of boys as early as 1953 and sent him for “spiritual direction.” Duke died in 1992. He appeared on the Baltimore Archdiocese’s 9/2002 list of priests and religious brothers accused of child sexual abuse and was included in the 4/5/2023 MD Attorney General’s Report.