Richard Chung, O.S.B. (1951 - March 20, 1992), was an

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Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

and schoolteacher, best known for his

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

after the launching of a police investigation into Chung's possible sexual abuse of a boy at Catholic high school in

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. Chung was further implicated in sexual misconduct in a 2004

civil lawsuit A lawsuit is a proceeding by one or more parties (the plaintiff or claimant) against one or more parties (the defendant) in a civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. T ...

against the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Pueblo The Diocese of Pueblo () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in southern Colorado in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Denver. ...

and the Benedictine Order by a man claiming to have been abused by Chung at a Benedictine-run

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...

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during 1982.

Biography

Born in 1951, Chung became a monk of the

Order of St. Benedict The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, they a ...

Holy Cross Abbey Holy Cross Abbey ''(Mainistir na Croise Naofa)'' was a Cistercian monastery in Holycross near Thurles, County Tipperary, Ireland, situated on the River Suir. It takes its name from a relic of the True Cross or Holy Rood. History A supposed f ...

, in

. He worked as a teacher at a

run by the abbey. He was later appointed chairman of the religious education department at St Mary's High School in

in 1988. Chung was found dead on March 20, 1992. The suicide took place during a police investigation into a possible molestation of a boy at St. Mary's High School."The Cost of Abuse"
(25 May 2002). ''

The Plain Dealer ''The Plain Dealer'' is the major newspaper of Cleveland, Ohio; it is a major national newspaper. In the fall of 2019, it ranked 23rd in U.S. newspaper circulation, a significant drop since March 2013, when its circulation ranked 17th daily an ...

''. Retrieved 6 July 2010.Buynak, Jim (2 April 1992)
"Police: Priest Who Killed Himself Faced Likely Sex-assault Charge".
''The Colorado Springs Gazette-Telegraph''. ProQuest Archiver. Retrieved 6 July 2010. A police officer interviewed by the ''

Colorado Springs Gazette-Telegraph ''The Gazette'' is a daily newspaper based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States. It has operated since 1873. History The publication began as ''Out West'', beginning March 23, 1872, but failed in its endeavor. The company relaunched ...

'' was quoted as asserting the presence of a "'

probable cause In United States criminal law, probable cause is the legal standard by which police authorities have reason to obtain a warrant for the arrest of a suspected criminal and for a court's issuing of a search warrant. One definition of the standar ...

on inappropriate touching'" for a

criminal charge A criminal charge is a formal accusation made by a governmental authority (usually a public prosecutor or the police) asserting that somebody has committed a crime. A charging document, which contains one or more criminal charges or counts, can t ...

of "'

sexual assault Sexual assault is an act of sexual abuse in which one intentionally Physical intimacy, sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or Coercion, coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their w ...

on a child by one in a position of trust.'" Posthumous articles published by the ''

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'' recalled Chung as a popular St. Mary's High School priest whose Cañon City

mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

was attended by more than 600 mourners.Gibney, Jim (25 March 1992)
"Priest's Suicide Tied to Probe".
''Denver Post''. NewsLibrary. Retrieved 6 July 2010.Gibney, Jim (31 March 1992)
"600 Mourn Priest Who Took Own Life".
''Denver Post''. NewsLibrary. Retrieved 6 July 2010. The smaller ''

'' reported that Chung was renowned for his amiable personal qualities and that the St. Mary's community was "hit hard."Welsh, Trudy (24 March 1992)
"School Copes with Death of Popular Priest".
''The Colorado Springs Gazette-Telegraph''. ProQuest Archiver. Retrieved 6 July 2010. The

corpse A cadaver, often known as a corpse, is a dead human body. Cadavers are used by medical students, physicians and other scientists to study anatomy, identify disease sites, determine causes of death, and provide tissue to repair a defect in a li ...

was buried on Holy Cross Abbey property on March 25, 1992. Further molestation controversy surfaced over a decade later. A

was filed against the diocese and the abbey in 2004 by a

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

man who, claiming a conscious recovery of his

repressed memories Repressed memory is a controversial, and largely scientifically discredited, psychiatric phenomenon which involves an inability to recall autobiographical information, usually of a traumatic or stressful nature. The concept originated in psych ...

, alleged that Chung had sexually molested him during his education as a 14-year-old schoolboy at Holy Cross Abbey in 1982.Torkelson, Jean (18 February 2005)
"Suit Claims Repressed Memory: California Man Says Priest Molested Him as Schoolboy at Abbey in Canon City".
''

Rocky Mountain News The ''Rocky Mountain News'' (nicknamed the ''Rocky'') was a daily newspaper published in Denver, Colorado, from April 23, 1859, until February 27, 2009. It was owned by the E. W. Scripps Company from 1926 until its closing. the Monday–Friday ...

''. HighBeam Research. Retrieved 6 July 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chung, Richard 1951 births 1992 suicides 1992 deaths American people of Chinese descent American Benedictines American rapists Schoolteachers from Colorado Catholic Church sexual abuse scandals in the United States Roman Catholic priests who died by suicide Suicides in Colorado Suicides by carbon monoxide poisoning 20th-century American educators 20th-century American Roman Catholic priests