Profile Facts
- Name
- Vincent Anthony DeLorenzo
- Role
- Priest
- Diocese
- Diocese of Lansing
- Ordained
- 1965
- Status
- Guilty plea
- Died
- 1/26/2024
- Records
- Diocesan and public records
Father Vincent Anthony DeLorenzo admitted in 2002 to sexually abusing an 8-year-old boy for five years, yet it took until 2023 for him to plead guilty in criminal court. Our clergy sexual abuse lawyers traced the full record, from his Burton pastorate to his Florida arrest, so survivors can see the complete documented history.
DeLorenzo died in January 2024, months after his sentencing. With eight known accusers, other survivors may still be out there. This page explains what was reported and what civil remedies may remain.
Sexual Abuse in the Diocese of Lansing
The Diocese of Lansing, covering south-central Michigan as one of the state’s seven dioceses alongside Detroit, Gaylord, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Marquette, and Saginaw, placed DeLorenzo on its public list of accused clergy in September 2019. The Michigan Attorney General’s investigation, begun in 2018, later brought the criminal charges that finally led to his guilty plea. A Michigan clergy sexual abuse lawyer can explain how that prosecution affects civil claims.
Parish schools like Holy Redeemer in Burton trusted pastors with their youngest students. When that trust was betrayed repeatedly, the diocese that assigned the priest may be answerable.
The Allegations Against Father Vincent Anthony DeLorenzo
Where He Served
Published records indicate that DeLorenzo was ordained in 1965 and served as pastor of Holy Redeemer Parish School in Burton, Michigan, from 1988 to 2002. He resigned in January 2002, and in March 2002 admitted to inappropriate sexual contact in the late 1970s with an 8-year-old boy, continuing for five years; he was sent to treatment and the district attorney’s office did not prosecute. He was later reported to be working a secular job in Hollywood, Florida. He appeared on the Lansing diocese’s list of September 27, 2019, with laicization pending.
Survivor Accounts and the Criminal Case
In February 2004 another man alleged DeLorenzo had abused him once at age 5 in 1987; the report had been made to the diocese in November 2003, but no prosecution followed at the time. Criminal charges were filed on May 23, 2019, concerning the alleged sexual abuse over five years of a boy in Burton beginning when the boy was 5 or 6 in 1995. DeLorenzo was arrested in Marion County, Florida, in 2019 and charged in connection with the 1987 sexual assault of a 5-year-old boy after presiding at a funeral for the boy’s family member. There were eight known accusers as of May 2019. He pleaded guilty in April 2023 in exchange for the dropping of the May 2019 charges of child sexual assault from 1995–2000, and was sentenced in June 2023 to five years’ probation, the first year in jail, plus lifetime sex-offender registration. He died on January 26, 2024, so he is no longer alive for anyone to pursue further criminal charges against him, but civil claims may still be available.
Criminal vs. Civil Sexual Abuse Cases
Criminal courts punish; civil courts compensate. The state ran DeLorenzo’s criminal case to its conclusion, a guilty plea and sentence, while survivors’ civil cases follow a separate track with a lower burden of proof.
Because DeLorenzo pleaded guilty and was sentenced, the criminal matter is finished, and his death in 2024 means he is no longer alive for anyone to pursue further criminal charges against him. Survivors can still file civil suits against his estate or the Diocese of Lansing, which kept him in parish ministry for years.
Statute of Limitations on Clergy Sexual Abuse Cases in Michigan
Michigan Legislature §600.5805 generally requires a civil sexual abuse lawsuit within ten years of the abuse or before the survivor turns 28, whichever is later. First-degree criminal sexual conduct has no statute of limitations under Michigan law.
DeLorenzo’s earliest admitted abuse dated to the late 1970s, yet criminal accountability did not arrive until 2023, proof that delayed justice is still possible. An attorney can determine whether your civil claim remains timely.
View All Accused Clergy in Michigan
Pursue Justice With Help From White Law PLLC
Claims may target the abuser’s estate and the diocese, especially where officials knew or should have known of earlier admissions, failed to remove the priest, covered up reports, or neglected proper screening, training, and supervision. Survivors may recover damages for medical and therapy expenses, pain and suffering, and emotional distress.
Call White Law PLLC at (517) 316-1195 for a free, confidential consultation. No fee unless we win.
Profiles summarize published records and allegations. Inclusion does not constitute a legal finding.