Companions in Hope

• In July 1998, Jarmoluk invited a man accused of murdering a college coed to the 11am Mass at the parish of which the man was not a parishioner or resident of Geneva. The victim's family regularly attended that Mass and were shocked to see the person who was later convicted of killing their niece seated in a nearby pew. Jarmoluk never warned them

• In 1999, another priest at St. Peter, Mark Campobello began sexually abusing of the female students of the parish school. The girl confided in a teacher who did not report it. When another teacher found out, she reported it to the principal who told he it was being taken care of.

• Jarmoluk, two vicars of the Rockford Diocese, and the diocesan lawyer interviewed the first teacher in the rectory to question her about the 'alleged' abuse. Campobello remained in ministry at a high school, an orphanage, and a parishes with schools. At some point, he spent time at St. Luke's medical facility in Maryland.

• Campobello continued abusing. Another victim was a female student at a the high school were he was working. The bishop pulled him out of the high school in the middle of the school year but the cops were never called.

• In 2000, Jarmoluk received the title of 'monsignor'.

• In 2002, the bishop showed up for "ground-breaking ceremonies" for the expansion of the existing school and parish offices and erecting of a new chapel.

• Later in 2002, Campobello was arrested at a parish of which he was a 'parochial minister' which essentially the pastor. The parish, St. James in Belvidere, has a school.

• In 2003, the Rockford Diocese was held in contempt of court for refusing to turn over court-ordered documents to the authorities prosecuting the Campobello criminal case.

• Later in 2003, Jarmoluk hired a new music director. The choir held a meeting at a member's home and invited Jarmoluk to attend to discuss the future of the choir. Jarmoluk, who later admitted he "lost my cool" , went on a verbal tirade against the choir members and, according to multiple accounts, began calling them "Sons and Daughters of Satan" and telling them they were despicable and so were their parents. He singled out certain women in an effort to intimidate them. The following day, he fired some of the ones who worked in the parish office. Almost the entire choir quit overnight and many left the parish. Jarmoluk has never apologized to them for his outburst.

• A short time later, a parishioner wrote a letter to the Daily Herald, calling out the bishop for not cooperating the the investigation of the child sexual assault charges. The parishioner included that he would no longer be donating money to the diocese for that reason.

• Less than a week later, Jarmoluk asked the parishioner for a meeting. Jarmoluk showed up with the pastoral council chair, Ray Benedetto, and pressured Bochte to sign a recantation letter they had prepared. Bochte refused.

• The following week, Jarmoluk spent 20 minutes during each of the weekend Masses to assail the parishioner who wrote the letter. Jarmoluk first defended the bishop's actions and then accused the parishioner of bearing false witness, referred to him at "the Enemy", said what he had done was "worse than murder", and encouraged everyone in the audience to shun him.

• Two months later, John Kass of the Chicago Tribune wrote a column about Jarmoluk's tirade from the altar. SNAP petitioned the bishop demanding he discipline Jarmoluk. SNAP survivors were treated with hostility by parishioners. One man rolled up his bulletin and swatted a survivor's arm. Another went toe-to-toe with a survivor and other's were heard saying, "Don't you have anything better to do?". Meanwhile, Jarmoluk hid inside the sacristy with male parishioners standing guard. There were three survivors total.

• A group of parishioners started a defense of Jarmoluk campaign. Parishioners were pressured to sign a petition supporting him before and after Masses. A handful of them wrote letters to newspapers defending him and praising him and personally attacking Bochte. Anyone who publicly supported Bochte was put on a "list" and shunned. Jarmoluk was in hiding but eventually had a staff member speak to the press, claiming Bochte had a personal agenda.

• In 2004, the choir director was arrested for a murder that occurred when he lived in New York. He was allowed to work during all the Easter Masses before turning himself in. The parish fired him for "not being truthful on his resume". He was later convicted and sentenced to 25 years to life. He died in prison of hepatitis.

• One month later, Campobello changed his original plea of not-guilty to guilty. He was sentenced to 8 years for crimes committed against two girls.

• A local newspaper covered the scandal at the parish, in part, with a comic portraying Jarmoluk hiding in the church basement, afraid to face parishioners.

• Weeks later, the 2nd Appellate Court ruled against the Rockford Diocese and said the priest's files are not covered by the First Amendment as the diocese had argued. The diocese again fought their release, claiming the case was over after the guilty plea. The trial judge, Timothy Sheldon, allowed the diocese to keep the files secret.

• In the summer of 2004, the two girls abused by Campobello filed civil suits against him and the diocese. Again, the diocese fought release of any and all records the plaintiffs' attorney requested. Jarmoluk fought against giving a deposition in the case but he lost that argument and granted the deposition unwillingly. Shortly thereafter, the bishop agreed to a $2.2 million settlement for the two victims.

• A candlelight vigil was held for the two girls and for all those who suffer from all forms of abuse. There was also an outreach effort and the public was an address to where they could send notes of encouragement or compassion to the girls. This was all done by individuals. Immediately after Campobello's arrest, Jarmoluk ignored requests for such outreach efforts.

• Two members of the Victims' Assistance Ministry team traveled to Geneva for a meeting with supporters of Jarmoluk. The meeting was supposed to include a small number of individuals, however, those individuals started calling as many parishioners as they could with, and mischaracterized to them the purpose of the meeting in an attempt to get a large turnout. The two Rockford team members, expecting an intimate meeting in a small meeting room, arrived to find over 100 people in the church basement called Seton Hall. The gathering turned into what one attendee described as a "lynching" with parish staff members and volunteers yelling, screaming, and personally attacking those who were publicly advocating for Campobello's victims. Not one person stood up on their behalf but at least one person apologized to the visitors for the behavior of his fellow parishioners. That was the last effort the team members made with the parish. The photos of many involved can be found on our Pew Monkeys page.

• In 2005, Jarmoluk hired a personal attorney to write perform a "due diligence" on how he personally handled the Campobello matter. The lawyer, Canice Rice from St. Louis, wrote a letter to the pastoral council and asked them to sign on to it. Most of the pastoral council walked out after reading the letter which was filled with lies and unprofessionally done. The chair, Benedetto, accepted the letter which was then promoted by Jarmoluk from the altar and then passed out by parishioners (deacon-to-be) Mike Sullivan and his wife, Ellen.

• The group of parishioners publicly supporting Jarmoluk began to wane. Even many of the ones who were publicly silent began to quietly express a desire for him to leave the parish. Some of those who chose to stick by him increased their attacks on the victims' advocates and victims themselves.

• Rice sent letters to parishioners, government agencies, and media outlets with demands for recantation and threats of legal action against them if they didn't recant. A small group of Jarmoluk supporters showed up at a city council meeting to complain about the mayor's comments about Jarmoluk. The mayor was a parishioner and had attended the school.

• In 2006, Jarmoluk began associating with a web site which claimed it was filming a documentary about him titled, "Forsaken: A Monsignor's Fight to Save His Faith". A man claiming to be the film "producer" claimed the name of "Thomas Farnsworth" which was also an associated name for James W. Grice of nearby Wayne, also a convicted con-man. According to Illinois officials, Grice was involved in schemes that bilked investors out of more than $5 million. Jarmoluk granted interviews and posed for pictures for this 'documentary' which one 'producer' calling himself Roberto Serrini referred to as "a very funny film". Jarmoluk escorted the cameramen from this supposed "film company" around the parish Barn Sale and went around asking unsuspecting women and children on-camera how they liked him as a pastor. He invited the cameramen to film the 'volunteers' Mass' at the Barn Sale fundraiser.

• Later in 2006, Bishop Doran placed precepts on Jarmoluk, ordering him to fire his attorney, stop his association with the film company, and apologize to all of the people he offended. As far as the attorney, Rice was in court representing Jarmoluk a short time later. As far as the film company, Jarmoluk never severed ties. As far as the apology, Jarmoluk stood on the altar and said he was sorry for all the mistakes he ever made in his life.

• Public support for Jamoluk diminished significantly in the wake of his attorneys' threats to several Geneva residents, his attempts to get out of sitting for a deposition, his involvement with the Forsaken web site, his conduct at the Barn Sale, and his overall mishandling of parish matters. Only a few individuals continued to broadcast their support for the pastor, and that was mostly done anonymously on his Forsaken web site.

• In 2009, Campobello was paroled after serving less than half of his sentence. He violated parole a short time later and was re-arrested and later re-released.

• Campobello is rearrested and returned to prison for violating parole again.
  
• Jarmoluk is transferred to St. Peter Parish in Spring Grove, Illinois, near Richmond. The Vice-Chancellor of the Diocese, Fr. Emeh Martins who is also a canon lawyer and an ecclesiastical judge for the Chicago province has been assigned as a parochial administrator at St. Peter in Geneva. The former associate pastor, Fr. Bruce Leudke, has also been transferred and replaced. As of summer 2009, Bishop Doran has still not addressed St. Peter parish regarding the crimes of either Mark Campobello or Joe Pavone.

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A More Comprehensive Timeline

The timeline above lists only the very basics of events at St. Peter for the past 12 years. Click on the link directly above for a more comprehensive and informative timeline, separated by years.