Profile Facts
- Name
- Armour R. Roberts
- Role
- Priest
- Diocese
- Diocese of Marquette
- Ordained
- 1955
- Status
- Accused
- Died
- 12/8/1989
- Records
- Diocesan and public records
Priests who were moved from diocese to diocese often left victims in more than one state. The clergy sexual abuse lawyers at White Law PLLC trace these transfers and use them to show how church leaders shuffled accused priests instead of protecting children.
Father Armour R. Roberts was ordained for the Diocese of Marquette in 1955 and later served in North Dakota, where the Bismarck diocese deemed an allegation against him substantiated. The Michigan Attorney General’s 2022 Marquette report documented multiple Michigan allegations. This page summarizes the record and survivors’ legal options.
Sexual Abuse in the Diocese of Marquette
The Diocese of Marquette covers Michigan’s Upper Peninsula as one of seven dioceses in the state. The others are the Archdiocese of Detroit and the Dioceses of Grand Rapids, Saginaw, Lansing, Kalamazoo, and Gaylord. Michigan’s Attorney General launched a statewide clergy-abuse investigation in 2018, and the October 2022 Marquette report revealed multiple allegations against Roberts.
A Michigan clergy sexual abuse lawyer can connect allegations across dioceses and states to demonstrate the institutional failures behind a priest’s repeated transfers.
The Allegations Against Father Armour R. Roberts
The New Leipzig Trip
Published records indicate that in the late 1960s or early 1970s, Roberts took three boys, who were high school freshmen, to visit Rev. John Owens in New Leipzig. The two priests allegedly plied the boys with alcohol and sexually abused them. Roberts died on December 8, 1989, and the Bismarck diocese named him publicly as accused on its list on January 2, 2020, deeming the allegation substantiated.
A Pattern Across Decades
The Michigan Attorney General’s October 2022 Marquette report revealed multiple allegations against Roberts. His personnel file showed “trouble” when he was assigned to a Norway, Michigan parish in 1961. After several transfers, he was in trouble with police in 1965 due to “morals charges,” and Bishop Noa asked Roberts to leave Marquette. He went to treatment and sought work in other dioceses; only Bismarck accepted him. Reports in 2002 and 2014 from a man stated that Roberts had sexually abused him and other teenage boys at St. Mary’s in Norway in the late 1950s; the man said he told Msgr. Pelessier in Iron Mountain, who allegedly violated the boy’s confidentiality. He was accused in 1965 by a man of abusing his son, and another allegation in 2007 described abuse of a boy in 1960, who also alleged abuse by Father Michael Hale. Because Roberts died in 1989, criminal prosecution is impossible, but civil claims against his estate or the dioceses involved remain available.
Criminal vs. Civil Sexual Abuse Cases
Criminal cases are the state’s tool for punishing offenders with prison. Civil cases are the survivor’s tool for winning compensation for medical costs, suffering, and emotional harm. A civil lawsuit does not depend on criminal charges being filed or proved.
Dioceses that shuffled accused priests between parishes instead of removing them can face civil liability. When leaders knew or should have known of the danger and failed to prevent the abuse, concealed it, or neglected proper screening and training, Michigan law may hold them accountable.
Statute of Limitations on Clergy Sexual Abuse Cases in Michigan
Under MCL §600.5805, Michigan survivors have ten years, or until age 28, whichever is later, to file a civil sexual abuse claim. First-degree criminal sexual conduct has no statute of limitations. The extended civil window recognizes that trauma and suppressed memories often keep survivors from reporting for decades.
Because the exact deadline is fact-specific, survivors should get legal advice promptly to protect their rights.
View All Accused Clergy in Michigan
Pursue Justice With Help From White Law PLLC
If Father Armour R. Roberts or any other priest harmed you, Michigan law may entitle you to compensation for therapy and medical expenses, pain and suffering, and emotional distress. A civil case can also expose the transfer practices that allowed abuse to continue. White Law PLLC has the experience to take on these complex cases.
Call (517) 316-1195 for a confidential consultation, or come to . From the Upper Peninsula to Detroit, we fight for Michigan survivors.
Profiles summarize published records and allegations. Inclusion does not constitute a legal finding.