Lawsuit claims Louisville priest brushed off a worker's rape report. Now hundreds of parishioners want him gone.

A new lawsuit accuses the Archdiocese of Louisville of ignoring its own abuse policies, as more than 700 people sign a petition calling for Father David Sánchez's removal.

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A woman who cleaned the halls of Our Lady of Lourdes in St. Matthews says she was repeatedly raped at work by her boss. She says that when she finally worked up the courage to tell her priest, he called her a liar.

Those are the allegations in a civil lawsuit filed last week in Jefferson Circuit Court against the Archdiocese of Louisville, Our Lady of Lourdes Parish and School, the parish's pastor, Rev. David G. Sánchez, and the woman's former supervisor.

I'm not naming the woman because she is a survivor of alleged sexual abuse. I also am not naming the supervisor because he has not been criminally charged.

Late update: According to a letter from the Archdiocese, Father Sanchez resigned Wednesday and is now on administrative leave.

What the lawsuit claims

According to the complaint, the woman started working as a custodian at the St. Matthews parish and school in the spring of 2025. Her direct supervisor started with flirting and winking, the suit says, and within months it escalated. She alleges he repeatedly forced her into the boiler and maintenance room, held her down, and raped and sodomized her. She also alleges he told her she would be fired if she reported it.

Around June 2025, the suit says, she went to Father Sánchez for help. According to the complaint, Sánchez told her he was "very good friends" with the supervisor and that she was lying. The complaint also alleges he warned her that her family would be threatened if she kept talking or took legal action. So she stayed quiet, and she says the abuse continued.

It only came to light later, the complaint says. The supervisor left the parish for what was described as a "medical procedure." The employee who replaced him learned what had happened and reported it to human resources in October 2025. That coworker also told her the supervisor had done the same thing to the woman who held her job before her, according to the suit.

At a meeting with HR later that month, the complaint says, Sánchez again accused her of lying before telling her to put her allegations in writing. HR then advised her to go to police.

She did. A St. Matthews Police Department report dated Oct. 21, 2025, and attached to the lawsuit lists first-degree rape, first-degree sodomy, first-degree unlawful imprisonment and sexual misconduct. It lists the supervisor as the suspect and describes the incidents as happening over several months in 2025 inside the maintenance closet at Our Lady of Lourdes.

In December 2025, a Jefferson Family Court judge entered a three-year protective order against the supervisor. Court records show he agreed to the order through his attorneys "without admission of guilt."

Her attorney, John Spalding, told me the alleged abuse is only half the story.

"When she asked for help, when she went to the powers that be to help her, she was not only ignored, but told that she wasn't telling the truth," Spalding said. "And so nothing was done, and she suffered a lot more abuse because nothing happened."

The lawsuit leans heavily on the archdiocese's own rulebook. Restoring Trust is the sexual abuse policy handbook every archdiocesan employee is supposed to receive. It lays out exactly how reports should be handled. For suspected criminal behavior like rape, it says the report should go immediately to police and the archdiocese's chancellor. It also says the archdiocese presumes victims who come forward are telling the truth.

"You don't need to restore trust unless trust has been lost," Spalding said. "There's no way that a woman can come to a priest and make allegations of this magnitude and of this seriousness, and for the response to be what it was, and that be in line with those policies."

He said his client is still employed at Our Lady of Lourdes. She took time away and recently returned. "She loves what she does, and she loves the people in the pews at Our Lady of Lourdes," he said. He said she can work there now in peace because neither the supervisor nor Sánchez is currently at the parish.

What the church told parishioners

The archdiocese has not publicly commented on the lawsuit. I reached out on Tuesday and was told they do not comment on pending litigation. But over the weekend, a message was read aloud at Masses at Our Lady of Lourdes.

"It is normally the policy of the Archdiocese not to discuss personnel matters or comment on pending litigation before reviewing all pertinent facts," the message began. It acknowledged "the seriousness of the allegations" and said "we care deeply about the well-being of all those affected."

The message then offered its own version of events. It said the woman's "original complaint concerned harassment" and that she "added to her report" while that complaint was being investigated. It said that "as with all allegations of criminal conduct, the local police department was immediately notified." It also said the accused supervisor "was not actively working, and his employment has since ended," and that "he has not worked at Our Lady of Lourdes since mid-2025."

It closed by asking parishioners "not to draw conclusions simply from the plaintiff's filing of a lawsuit."

The message did not mention Father Sánchez. The lawsuit says the parish recently announced another priest would be filling in for an indefinite period. Spalding said he's heard "different things" about the pastor's status. "I don't know what the truth is regarding his status," he said, "and I'm sure it will come out in days to come."

The police investigation

St. Matthews Police Chief Barry Wilkerson says the criminal case is not closed. "The investigation is considered open and active," Wilkerson said. "Detectives are working with prosecutors to decide what, if any, charges should be filed."

Spalding said he hopes that's true. He also questioned the pace.

"I have real questions about how a person can make a report of rape in October, and then 10 months seem to pass before substantive investigation occurs," he said. He added that police may have been working the case behind the scenes.

A petition calling for change

Within a day of the lawsuit being filed, a former Our Lady of Lourdes student started a Change.org petition called "Justice for Our Lady of Lourdes." It calls on Archbishop Shelton Fabre and the archdiocese to remove Sánchez as pastor. As of this writing, it has more than 730 verified signatures.

The petition says loyal parishioners have left under the current pastor's leadership. It says the parish lost significant capital campaign money after his appointment. It calls the assault allegations the "gravest concern," saying they "demand a thorough investigation and swift action to restore trust."

Spalding said neither his client nor his firm had anything to do with it. "That was organic," he said. "That certainly seems like a significant response from the community. I haven't heard a lot of people coming to the defense of Father David Sanchez."

Since this story started, I've heard from many Our Lady of Lourdes parents with questions about what happened and what's being done to prevent it from happening again. Almost none of them are willing to go on the record. Most say they are afraid of retaliation.

Spalding said he's heard that fear too, and he expects to dig into it once the case moves into discovery. For now, he's asking people with information to speak up.

"Right is right, and wrong is wrong, and truth is very important," he said. "If anybody has experiences with Father David Sanchez that they think are concerning or in need of reporting, I just would encourage those folks to please come forward."

I reached out to the Archdiocese of Louisville for comment on the lawsuit, the petition and Father Sánchez's current status. A spokesperson declined to comment, stating they do not comment on pending litigation.

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