ALERT: Noaker Law Firm LLC is currently investigating reports that Fr. Edmund Netter sexually abused young girls when he was assigned to St. Anthony’s parish in Nanuet, New York. If you have any relevant information, please contact Investigator William Haider at (347) 266-7316.
Diocese: Archdiocese of New York
Summary of Assignments:
- 1951-1952: St. Peter’s; Haverstraw, NY
- 1951-1952: Rehabilitation Hospital; Haverstraw, NY
- 1952-1954: St. Eugene’s; Younkers, NY
- 1954-1956: US Army Chaplain; Germany
- 1956-1960: Our Savior; Manhattan, NY
- 1960-1963: Our Lady of Mercy; Bronx, NY
- 1963-1967: St. Gregory Barbarigo; Garnersville, NY
- 1968: Not listed in the 1968 Directory
- 1968-1986: St. Anthony’s; Nanuet, NY
- Established St. Anthony’s chapter of the Young Catholic Students group
- 1986-1987: Sacred Heart; Suffern, NY
- Parish Mission Team
- 1987-1998: St. Ann’s; Nyack, NY
Notes:
In 1996, Netter was made Monsignor. He died on April 11, 1998.
In a 2004 complaint, Netter was accused of sexually abusing a girl from 1973 to 1979, beginning when she was 9-years-old. The alleged abuse occurred weekly or biweekly in the St. Anthony’s rectory in Nanuet, NY and during vacations at the family’s house when the rest of the family was at the beach.
Netter is mentioned in the book Kitchen Table Politics: Conservative Women and Family Values in New York, as arriving at St. Anthony’s in Nanuet, NY in 1967 and overseeing several groups at the parish, including the parish council, a group called Young Catholic Students, and an anti-abortion group based out of the church.
Netter is also the focus of a 1976 article in the The Journal News out of White Plains, NY, titled: Rev. Edmund Netter: An ‘inspiration’ to his parish. In this article, the author states that, “Youngsters are of special interest to Father Netter,” mentioning that Netter’s Young Catholic Students group grew from 8 teens in 1968 to 240 young people by 1976. In addition, the article focuses on Fr. Netter’s group taking mission trips to the Appalachian town of Blue Creek, WV. A similar article published on the same date in The Kingston Daily Freeman out of Kingston, NY, notes that Fr. Netter was the co-founder of an orphanage in Managua, Nicaragua, for which he helped raise over $35,000.
In 1983, Fr. Netter received the Citizen of the Year Award from the Rockland County Catholic Youth Organization, according to an April 19th article in The Journal News. The article also notes that, in addition to the Young Catholic Students Group, Netter had established a Summer Bible School for 180 children in 1968, and was the moderator for a Catholic Youth Organization basketball and cheerleading program for 250 boys and girls from fourth grade until high school. He also served as a Board Member for the Child Advocacy Commission, The Clarkstown Narcotics Council, and sponsored the Person-to-Person program at Nyack Hospital and St. Agatha’s Home.
Sources: Complaint 02.26.04; http://bishop-accountability.org/; Kitchen Table Politics by Stacie Taranto; BA.org Assignment Record; Newspapers.com Father Netter Search Results; Kingston Daily Freeman Article 8/22/76; The Journal News Article 8/9/76; The Journal News Article 4/19/83
Note: Years in parentheses indicate editions of the Official Catholic Directory. Because of the publication schedule of the Directory, a priest listed at a parish in a given year was also likely at that parish for part of the previous year.