Profile Facts
- Name
- Rock James Badgerow
- Role
- Priest
- Diocese
- Diocese of Grand Rapids
- Ordained
- 1979
- Status
- Accused
- Records
- Diocesan and public records
Despite multiple accusations of sexual misconduct spanning decades, Father Rock James Badgerow, ordained in 1979 for the Diocese of Grand Rapids, was granted senior priest status in 2023. The clergy sexual abuse lawyers at White Law PLLC have compiled the documented allegations below so survivors can see the full record.
Badgerow is reportedly still living, which means both criminal and civil avenues may remain worth examining. Michigan survivors should not assume that the diocese’s internal decisions closed the door on legal accountability.
Sexual Abuse in the Diocese of Grand Rapids
Grand Rapids joins the Archdiocese of Detroit and the dioceses of Gaylord, Kalamazoo, Lansing, Marquette, and Saginaw as one of Michigan’s seven Catholic dioceses. The Attorney General’s December 15, 2025 report on Grand Rapids includes Badgerow among the accused. As a Michigan clergy sexual abuse lawyer, White Law PLLC helps survivors use these official findings to support their claims.
When a priest remains in ministry after serious accusations, survivors often wonder whether anyone will take their story seriously. The Attorney General’s report, an official state document, says otherwise.
The Allegations Against Father Rock James Badgerow
Where He Served
Badgerow was ordained in 1979 and assigned to St. Thomas Parish in Grand Rapids, later serving at Sacred Heart Academy and St. Ann’s Home. Described as a “really young” and “modern” priest early in his career, he was removed from Sacred Heart but allowed to continue ministry at St. Ann’s Home, and was granted senior priest status in 2023.
What Survivors Reported
Per published records, Badgerow was accused in 1993 of sexually abusing a 15-year-old boy, a freshman at Catholic Central High School. The alleged victim said Badgerow pulled over in his red jeep, offered him a ride home, feigned car trouble, then took the boy into the school building and forcibly orally copulated him. Badgerow said he did not remember such an incident, suggesting it may have been a different encounter with a young adult man at a rest stop. In 2004, a man told the diocese Badgerow had made sexual passes toward him at the St. Patrick’s rectory. In 2018, a man reported that Badgerow had recently told him he was attracted to a tenth-grade boy at Sacred Heart Academy, saying, “the older I get the younger I like them. I can’t help myself.” He was included in the Michigan Attorney General’s December 15, 2025 Diocese of Grand Rapids report.
Criminal vs. Civil Sexual Abuse Cases
Criminal prosecution is the state’s tool for punishing offenders, while civil lawsuits are the survivor’s tool for obtaining compensation. Because Badgerow is reportedly still alive, criminal options have not been foreclosed by death, though statutes of limitation still apply and require careful analysis.
Civil claims, meanwhile, can target the Diocese of Grand Rapids for keeping Badgerow in ministry after receiving complaints. A survivor does not need to wait for prosecutors to act before filing a civil case.
Statute of Limitations on Clergy Sexual Abuse Cases in Michigan
Michigan Legislature §600.5805 allows civil sexual abuse suits within ten years or until the victim’s 28th birthday, whichever is later. First-degree criminal sexual conduct has no statute of limitations in Michigan.
Trauma frequently delays reporting for years or decades, and the law accounts for that reality. The only way to know whether your claim survives is to have an attorney examine your timeline.
View All Accused Clergy in Michigan
Pursue Justice With Help From White Law PLLC
Churches and dioceses face liability when they learn of abuse allegations yet leave the priest in place, fail to warn families, or neglect basic screening and supervision. Damages in successful cases have included therapy and medical expenses, pain and suffering, and emotional distress.
Contact White Law PLLC at (517) 316-1195. Your case review is free and private, and we work on contingency.
Profiles summarize published records and allegations. Inclusion does not constitute a legal finding.