Iowa judge dismisses charges against former Port Charlotte priest

PORT CHARLOTTE — A judge dismissed sexual abuse charges brought against a suspended Port Charlotte priest.

Dubuque County, Iowa court records indicate the counts against Rev. Leo P. Riley were dismissed Monday, following a motion for dismissal by his defense attorneys.

The ruling was made by Judge Thomas Bitter. The Daily Sun was not able to get access to court records to determine why the judge dismissed the charges.

Riley is still facing a lawsuit alleging sexual battery at a Port Charlotte school in the 1990s.

He was arrested on five counts of capital sexual battery in May 2023 after four alleged victims said Riley molested them while they were altar boys in Dubuque in the mid-1980s.

He was taken into custody by the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office and extradited to Iowa.

After being transferred to Florida, Riley served as a pastor at San Antonio Catholic Church in Deep Creek from 2018 until his suspension in 2023.

When the sexual abuse allegations out of Iowa arose in May 2023, the Diocese of Venice suspended him pending an internal investigation.

Riley is still named as a defendant in 2020 civil lawsuit out of Sarasota County. The plaintiff, referred to as “John Doe,” alleged Riley sexually abused him while he was a student at St. Charles Borromeo in Port Charlotte.

The lawsuit, which is pending, names Riley as defendants, along with the Diocese of Venice.

As recent as Friday, Riley's attorneys filed a motion for a protective order regarding a planned deposition of Riley by John Doe's attorneys — citing a then-upcoming trial.

"Plaintiff’s attempt to take Fr. Riley’s deposition at this time is clearly no more than a veiled attempt to procure a series of Fifth Amendment responses to be used later in the civil trial of this matter to the detriment of Fr. Riley," the motion stated.

Court records indicate attorneys for the Diocese of Venice filed a motion for summary judgement on their client's behalf in the same case.

Damien Mallard, attorney for John Doe, previously told The Daily Sun that Riley would be allowed to invoke the Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination during the deposition.