Exclusive: Brother and best friend of accused pedophile priest speak out

Reporter: Justin Kase
Published: Updated:

An accused pedophile priest isn’t standing alone. His brother spoke exclusively with WINK News.

Father Leo Riley is suspected of sexually abusing multiple alter boys during the 80s, and he’s facing a criminal trial in Iowa.

He was given a $100,000 bond Friday, and he must turn himself in and face a judge there.

Meantime, here in Southwest Florida, a man claims Riley sexually abused him in the 2000s. That man filed a civil lawsuit.

The Diocese of Venice allowed Riley to remain in his position until 2023 because there was no physical evidence or witnesses to support that victim’s story.

Riley’s brother reached out to WINK on Friday, saying people aren’t getting the full story.

Riley’s brother and his best friend both spoke with us and said he faced an accusation like this 10 years ago and was exonerated.

So, they’re asking the community to wait for the facts.

“He has devoted his life to God, and he’s a remarkable person, and how he’s being portrayed is not only misleading, but it’s criminal,” Michael Riley said.

After an allegation surfaced of sexual abuse ten years ago, Father Riley’s brother said every church he was a part of in Iowa posted messages and made announcements about the allegations, urging anyone to come forward if they were a victim.

“If you have been abused by him, please come forward. No one did. No one did. So, these four individuals who were grown men then. Where were they? Where were they 10 years ago?” Michael said.

Experts said it’s unfortunately very common for child sex abuse victims to never speak about what happened.

WINK News even spoke with a child sex abuse survivor Thursday night, who said victims of this kind of abuse can feel intense shame, which holds them back from coming forward.

“It’s a daunting thing to put that out there and risk that shame and embarrassment, and someone thinking of you outside of how you want to be thought of and how you think of yourself is not an overly dramatic thing, I think in most instances life, but I think for trauma survivors, it’s especially painful, obviously,” said Aaron Averhart, rape and sexual abuse survivor.

Father Riley’s best friend, Joe Whitehead, is a retired Naples cop.

He’s known Riley since the late 70’s and he said the allegations just don’t match the man he knows.

“I’ve never seen any behavior out of him that was questionable in any way,” Whitehead said.

Father Riley has since bonded out of jail. Whitehead said he was picked up from the Charlotte County Jail in Punta Gorda on Friday.

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