Profile Facts
- Name
- Joseph Comperchio
- Role
- Priest
- Diocese
- Diocese of Lansing
- Order
- CSC
- Status
- Guilty plea
- Died
- 6/2/2022
- Records
- Diocesan and public records
Joseph Comperchio, who spent a year as a Holy Cross brother before teaching for years as “Brother Joe,” pleaded guilty in 2021 to sexually abusing Catholic schoolchildren in Michigan. Our clergy sexual abuse lawyers prepared this profile so survivors can review the documented record, the Jackson classroom abuse, the decades-delayed reports, and the criminal case that finally followed.
Comperchio admitted what he did, was sentenced to 10 to 20 years in prison, and died in 2022. If he abused you or your child, a civil claim may still be available. The paragraphs below explain where he worked, what survivors reported, and how Michigan law treats cases like this one.
Sexual Abuse in the Diocese of Lansing
Lansing’s diocese stretches across south-central Michigan and ranks among the state’s seven Catholic dioceses, Detroit, Gaylord, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Lansing, Marquette, and Saginaw. The Michigan Attorney General’s 2018 investigation into clergy abuse gathered files from each of them, and the resulting reports, including a December 2024 report focused on Lansing, continue to surface new names. As a Michigan clergy sexual abuse lawyer, White Law PLLC monitors every release.
Catholic school cases often involve witnesses: classmates, siblings, and teachers who saw something and said nothing. If you attended a Lansing-diocese school in the 1970s, your memories, and those of people around you, may still support a claim today.
The Allegations Against Father Joseph Comperchio
His Time in Michigan
Published records indicate that Comperchio spent one year as a Holy Cross brother at Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, then left the order but kept the name “Brother Joe” as a Catholic school teacher. In the 1970s he taught at St. John the Evangelist School in Jackson, Michigan, where he also served as a drama teacher. He later moved to Boston, Massachusetts, and then to Fort Myers, Florida, where he taught at a private school. He was arrested in Fort Myers on September 14, 2020, admitted the abuse, and was extradited to Michigan.
Survivor Accounts
In January 2019 the Diocese of Lansing received an allegation that Comperchio had sexually abused a boy in grades three through six at St. John the Evangelist School between 1973 and 1976; the accuser said he watched Comperchio sexually assault four other boys while in fifth grade, and that a report he made to a priest at age 21 went nowhere. In December 2019 another man told police Comperchio had abused him in 1977 as a sixth-grader, that he believed a friend was abused too, and that when he confronted Comperchio in Boston in 2000, Comperchio apologized. In February 2020 a woman told police Comperchio had touched her breast in a St. John’s bathroom when she was a young student, and a classmate witness said he had touched her “all over” while making her perform a “banana dance” in class. Comperchio pleaded guilty in June 2021 and was sentenced in August 2021 to 10 to 20 years in prison with lifetime sex-offender registration. He died on June 2, 2022.
Criminal vs. Civil Sexual Abuse Cases
When the state prosecutes abuse, the result can be prison; when a survivor files suit, the goal is financial recovery for the harm done. These two tracks run separately, a civil case does not depend on a criminal one, and a guilty plea in criminal court can strengthen a later civil claim.
Comperchio’s criminal case is over: he pleaded guilty, received a 10-to-20-year sentence, and died in 2022, so he is no longer alive for anyone to pursue further criminal charges against him. Civil avenues may nevertheless remain open, including claims against his estate, the Diocese of Lansing, or the school that employed him.
Statute of Limitations on Clergy Sexual Abuse Cases in Michigan
Under Michigan Legislature §600.5805, a civil sexual abuse claim must generally be filed within ten years or before the survivor’s 28th birthday, whichever gives more time. Michigan places no time limit on prosecuting first-degree criminal sexual conduct.
Survivors of school-based abuse often stay quiet for decades, loyalty to the school, fear of parents’ reactions, and buried memories all play a role. Never assume the deadline has passed without having an attorney examine the facts of your case.
View All Accused Clergy in Michigan
Pursue Justice With Help From White Law PLLC
A survivor may bring claims against the abuser’s estate and against the institutions that enabled him, where a diocese or school knew or should have known of complaints, failed to act on them, covered up what it learned, or hired and supervised staff carelessly. Recoverable damages can include medical and therapy bills, pain and suffering, and emotional distress.
Call White Law PLLC at (517) 316-1195 for a confidential, no-cost conversation. You pay nothing unless we win.
Profiles summarize published records and allegations. Inclusion does not constitute a legal finding.