Luke Reese, the first married Catholic priest in the archdiocese of Indianapolis, was sentenced on Friday to three years of home confinement with electronic monitoring. Two years of his sentence were suspended, and he will be on probation for one year for assaulting his estranged wife, Gina.
Reese, 48, was found guilty by a jury in the Marion County Superior Court on one felony count of criminal confinement with bodily injury, and misdemeanor counts of domestic battery, and battery resulting in bodily injury, according to public court records. The jury found him not guilty on felony charges of kidnapping where a vehicle is used and criminal confinement where a vehicle is used.
Reese must receive mental health evaluation and treatment, and he must complete 26 months of domestic violence counseling, according to court documents. The court also ordered Reese to pay $206.05 in restitution to his estranged wife.
The alleged crimes took place on September 24 of 2017. The pastor of Holy Rosary church, where Reese was Parochial Vicar, allegedly saw Reese’s wife’s swollen and bloodied face after what she described as an 18-hour ordeal, which Gina Reese told police included physical and sexual assault, intimidation, and threatening, some of which she said occurred before the altar of the church.
Reese was put on administrative leave on September 27, and he was arrested in February of 2018. His name was not removed from the parish staff directory until after we broke the story on February 27. Some parishioners of Holy Rosary continue to defend Reese online, saying that his wife brought the beating on herself.
Reese is a married Anglican priest who entered the Catholic Church through the Personal Ordinariate established by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009. Reese and his estranged wife had been married for 25 years and have seven children. Reese filed for divorce from his wife on December 19 0f 2017, and has since complained online that he misses his children.
On July 30, Gina Reese created a YouCaring fundraiser to solicit tuition fees for their son Edmund, who has multiple special needs and who Gina Reese says was bullied in public school. The fundraiser says:
I am currently in the middle of a very difficult divorce, having been a victim – make that survivor – of domestic violence. Edmund’s father is paying nothing to support him and his five brothers and sisters who still live at home with me.
Reese, who was Parochial Vicar at Holy Rosary Church in Indianapolis, was suspended from his duties at Holy Rosary in Indianapolis. It is unclear whether he continued to receive a salary from Holy Rosary or from the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, which is the equivalent of a diocese and which has direct authority over Ordinariate priests like Reese. The Ordinariate, Bishop Lopes’ office, and Indianapolis Diocese have refused to respond to our numerous requests for comment.
Attorney Mary Panzi, who is representing Gina Reese in the divorce case, said in February: “I am truly trying to distance myself and my client from the Catholic Church and those who are beholden to their faith, as I believe that they will do anything within their power to silence this matter,” linking the initial media silence on the Reese case to a larger pattern in the Catholic Church of covering up scandalous behavior by priests.
For more information on the larger implications of the Luke Reese scandal, especially as it pertains to how Catholic priests are vetted before they are ordained, see Why the Fr. Luke Reese scandal is everybody’s business.
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Related: Will Holy Rosary be reconsecrated after desecration by Fr. Luke Reese?
Mug shot of Luke Reese courtesy of Fox59 News; photo of Holy Rosary Church courtesy of Joe Grabowski.
She is obviously totally innocent. Didn’t do a thing. Pure as driven snow.
No one deserves what she got, with six children. This guy a dirt bag and should serve a long time sentence. Read the whole article on how he held hostage for hours.
I’m still at a loss as to why Ms. Panzy links “the initial media silence on the Reese case to a larger pattern in the Catholic Church of covering up scandalous behavior by priests.” Bishops who protected criminal priests shunted them off to other dioceses, made threats, etc. In the case of Fr. Reese, literally ANYBODY could go to the City-County Building and get a copy of the probable cause affidavit and charges. I’m unsure as to what my colleague — who is an excellent attorney, BTW — expected the media to do.
They . . . .could have written about it, I guess? Or talked about it on the news? That seems like their job, so normal people, who don’t routinely go to the courthouse and find out who’s on trial, would find out about it. No one covered it until we did. When there’s an extremely important stories and no news outlet covers it, it’s reasonable to think they’re either wildly incompetent, or they chose to help keep it quiet for whatever reason.
I think once he’s convicted, the crimes are no longer alleged..
Please tell me he’s not still in active ministry. This is sickening.
He was relieved of his duties for the Indianapolis Archdiocese at the end of Feb/beginning of March and will not be returning to active ministry there.
No idea what his superiors in Houston plan to do with him.
I will pray a special prayer for Gina Reese and Edmund Reese.
It looks like a cover-up and his wife had no one to help her. This was not right to Mrs Reese, and her husband was not held accountable. Most couples fight, but she did not deserve to be beaten. Children watching this are scarred for life, and may become abusers themselves ! God bless Mrs. Reese !
Painfully sad. Praying for them.
This is so disgusting, especially people from the church saying his wife brought this upon herself. I hope she heals and her son gets the help he needs. This guy should never be trusted again.