After being rejected by both the Archdiocese of Chicago and the Diocese of Green Bay, not surprisingly Father Frederick Lenczycki was accepted as a seminarian in the Diocese of Joliet in 1963, with Bishop Blanchette reserving his vote until Lenczycki’s IQ could be determined. Prior to his ordination in 1972, Lenczycki’s interest in working with boys was well-known and he expressed he wanted to be trained in “adolescent psychology.” In 1980 Lenczycki experienced some unknown “difficulties” and requested a transfer from Bishop Kucera. He was transferred to St. Isaac Jogues where he served until he was removed in 1984 after a 12-year-old boy reported that Lenczycki sexually abused him. Lenczycki provided the State’s Attorney with a list of thirteen boys with whom he had inappropriate contact. Bishop Imesch the urged Lenczycki to “spend some time away from the diocese” but that by “June of 1987” Lenczycki could return. Bishop Imesch helped find Lenczycki an assignment within the Archdiocese of San Francisco and recommended him saing he was “an excellent priest” who “will do a fine job.” During his tenure in the Archdiocese of San Francisco, Lenczycki abused at least three children in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
In 1992, Lenczycki applied for faculties within the Archdiocese of St. Louis and Bishop Imesch stated “I have no reason why he should not be permitted to perform priestly ministry in the Archdiocese of St. Louis.” During the 1990s and early 2000s numerous victims came forward, including a two former seminarians who were abused by Lenczycki at St. Charles Borromeo in 1979 one under the guise of “psychological research” and another during spiritual direction, as well as a victim who was taken to Lenczycki for “counseling” when he was approximately 10 years old. In November 2002, the DuPage County State’s Attorney filed charges against Lenczycki for the 1984 sexual abuse. Lenczycki pled guilty in 2004 and was sentenced to five years in prison. Just before his release in 2006, it was decided that he was too sexually dangerous to release and he served another three years. He was released on parole in 2009 and is a registered sex offender. Over his 25-year career as a priest, it is estimated that he sexually abused at least 24 boys in three separate states.