Former Local Priest Arrested For Sexual Abuse in 1980s

Dubuque Police say a former local priest was arrested Wednesday on sexual abuse charges stemming from his time at a Dubuque parish in the 1980s. 68 year old Rev. Leo Riley of Port Charlotte, Fla., is being charged with five counts of second-degree sexual abuse. He was arrested in Florida and is being held there awaiting extradition to Dubuque. A release states Dubuque police were contacted by the Archdiocese of Dubuque’s Office for the Protection of Children in May 2023 about reports the archdiocese had received of cold cases of alleged sexual abuse in Dubuque in the 1980s. According to a report, four individuals alleged they were sexually abused by Riley from 1984 to 1986 while he was associate pastor of Church of the Resurrection in Dubuque.