Rudolph Edward Kos (born April 29, 1945) is a former

Roman Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in common English usage ''priest'' re ...

who was found guilty of sex crimes in the Diocese of Dallas in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. In 1998, Kos was convicted of three counts of

aggravated sexual assault The precise definitions of and punishments for aggravated sexual assault and aggravated rape vary by country and by legislature within a country. Effects on victims Aggravated sexual assault can lead to short- or long-term effects. Many peopl ...

and sentenced to

life in prison Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life imprisonment are co ...

. Kos was denied parole in 2012 and will not be eligible for another hearing until 2028. In April, 1992, a therapist had told officials of the diocese that Kos was a "classic textbook

pedophile Pedophilia ( alternatively spelled paedophilia) is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Although girls typically begin the process of puber ...

". However, Bishop Charles Victor Grahmann acknowledged he did not read this record, and allowed Kos to have access to children for almost one full year more. The last documented incident of abuse was 11 months later. In 1997 a jury awarded $120 million to victims in a sex abuse case against the Catholic Diocese of

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

in a lawsuit implicating Kos. On July 10, 1998, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Dallas settled their appeal of that verdict and agreed to pay $23.4 million to eight former

altar boy An altar server is a lay assistant to a member of the clergy during a Christian liturgy. An altar server attends to supporting tasks at the altar such as fetching and carrying, ringing the altar bell, helping bring up the gifts, and bringing up ...

s and the relatives of a ninth who had claimed they were

sexually abused Sexual abuse or sex abuse is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using physical force, or by taking advantage of another. It often consists of a persistent pattern of sexual assaults. The offender is r ...

by Kos. Bishop Grahmann issued a written apology when this settlement was announced, saying, "To the victims and their families, I once again want to apologize on behalf of the diocese. Based on what we know now, the decisions made concerning Rudy Kos were errors in human judgment. I regret very much what happened, and I am deeply sorry for your pain."

References

External links

Texas Department of Criminal Justice -- Offender Details
1945 births Living people 20th-century American Roman Catholic theologians American people convicted of rape American Catholic priests convicted of child sexual abuse Laicized Roman Catholic priests Members of the clergy convicted of rape Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Texas {{US-crime-bio-stub Violence against men in the United States