Former John Carroll University Priest Named On Abuse List

UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, OH — A former John Carroll University priest has been named on a list of priests accused of sexual misconduct with minors.

Roy Drake was at the school from 1980 to 1984. He was the prefect of Dolan Hall, a dormitory that still houses students at John Carroll. Drake died in 2008. He was named in a list of priests credibly accused of sexual abuse. The list was released Tuesday by the Jesuits USA Northeastern Province.

Drake was reportedly accused twice of sexual misconduct during his lifetime. In 1969, he was teaching at a prep school in the Bronx when he allegedly raped a 13-year-old boy. This initial incident was not reported until the early 2000s.

In 1974, Drake was at the Maine Maritime Academy when he allegedly sexually assaulted another teenage boy, this time a 16-year-old, the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle noted.

“It was so violent,” the victim told the Portland Press Herald. “He was lifting me off the ground. I was fighting him with everything I had, but he was as strong as an ox."

The victim went on to say that Drake's eyes were "black" and that he said "no one could stop him."

The second incident was also not reported until the 2000s.

Drake was eventually transferred to various regions, going to LeMoyne College in Syracuse and then John Carroll University. After his tenure at the Northeast Ohio school, Drake went back to Upstate New York, working again at LeMoyne and then at a retreat house in Syracuse. He finished his days in New York City, near Fordham University.

This is the second time Drake's name has appeared on a list of priests that have been credibly accused of sexual misconduct with minors. He was first named by the Midwest Province of the Society of Jesus in late 2018.

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Drake and Thomas Powers were the only two priests named in the Midwest release that worked at John Carroll. Powers also spent time at St. Ignatius in Cleveland and Walsh Jesuit in Cuyahoga Falls.

Powers was at John Carroll from 1973 until 1978.

The full list of Jesuit priests accused of sexual misconduct in the Midwest has been posted online. The Northeaster Province list is also available online.

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