Priest Accused Of Sexual Assault At Hammel Woods: Joliet Diocese Attorney Wins Big Pretrial Ruling

JOLIET, IL — A woman formerly employed with the Diocese of Joliet at Shorewood's Holy Family parish on Route 59 recently lost an important pretrial ruling in her civil lawsuit against the Diocese and Father Nestor Sanchez. She has accused the Catholic priest of raping her inside his locked car at the secluded Hammel Woods Forest Preserve back in 2024.

The woman's October 2025 lawsuit filed at the Will County Courthouse against the Diocese of Joliet and Father Sanchez accused the defendants of negligent supervision, sexual harassment, retaliation, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract, battery/sexual assault and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

In a recent turn of events, Will County Judge Brian Barrett dismissed count 4: breach of fiduciary contract against the Diocese of Joliet and Father Sanchez, count 5 breach of contract against the Diocese, count 7 intentional infliction of emotion distress against the Diocese and count 8 intentional infliction of emotion distress against the former Holy Family priest. Filing the pretrial motions seeking to dismiss several of the plaintiff's counts was Diocese of Joliet general counsel Jeff Archambeault and downtown Joliet attorney Mark Ellis of Jaquays & Ellis, who is defending Father Sanchez.

"Count IV of Plaintiff's Complaint must fail," Archambeault argued in his motion to dismiss. "Plaintiff has made no allegations as to what conduct of the Diocese gives rise to this cause of action. It can hardly be said that the Complaint alleges any behavior of Father Sanchez that was in any way motivated by a desire to serve the interests of the Diocese.

"As it relates to Count V entitled breach of contract, even assuming Plaintiff's contention is correct that the Handbook constitutes a valid contract, there is no correlation between any action of the Diocese and any breach. The Diocese in no way retaliated against the Plaintiff. It did not discipline her, terminate her, or take any adverse employment action against her. The Diocese took Plaintiffs complaints and investigated them. Simply because the Plaintiff disagrees with the results of that investigation can hardly be considered an adverse employment action or retaliation," Archambeault argued.

Diocese "Did Not Suspend, Demote Or Terminate Plaintiff"

As far as the intentional infliction of emotional distress claim, "Plaintiff has not and cannot allege such severe and outrageous conduct to satisfy the pleading standards for intentional infliction of emotional distress," Archambeault reminded Judge Barrett. "Count VIII is quite simple. The Diocese investigated her allegations and reached a conclusion. The Diocese took no action that would make an ordinary person on the street scream 'outrageous!' The Diocese made no threats. It did not suspend, demote or terminate Plaintiff. It did not publish or disseminate information branding Plaintiff a liar or that she should be disbelieved. Plaintiff may disagree with the ultimate conclusion, but these actions do not rise to the level of going beyond all possible bounds of decency, and to be regarded as atrocious, and utterly intolerable in a civilized community.

"The cases cited by Plaintiff concern egregious conduct, something which is simply absent here," the general counsel at the Diocese of Joliet offices on Weber Road indicated.

Joliet Patch Breaks News Of Jane Doe's Lawsuit In 2025

Last October, Joliet Patch revealed that the Diocese of Joliet and Father Nestor Sanchez, a Catholic priest who has served in recent years at Saints Peter and Paul in Naperville and as pastor in small-town parishes including Paxton and Gibson City were now facing a sexual harassment lawsuit filed in connection with Father Sanchez's assignment at Holy Family Parish on Route 59 in Shorewood.

The lawsuit was filed by a woman who lives in DuPage County and allowed to use the identity of Jane Doe. She was employed by the Diocese of Joliet at Holy Family Catholic Church in Shorewood, according to her attorney Melissa Anderson.

Fr. Sanchez was assigned to Holy Family in Shorewood from July 2019 through June 2022, before being assigned to other Diocese of Joliet parishes, the lawsuit outlined. The plaintiff began working at Holy Family on Nov. 4, 2019, and "even after being reassigned from Holy Family, Sanchez maintained and exercised authority over plaintiff by initiating text and phone communications regarding work-related matters, directing plaintiff to assist him with tasks despite not being stationed at her parish, dictating when and where spiritual counseling meetings would occur," the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit alleges that Fr. Sanchez met with the woman and her husband "under the guise of providing spiritual guidance and using his clerical role and influence to ensure plaintiff's compliance with his directives."

On July 2, 2024, Father Sanchez directed the woman to meet him at the Hammel Woods Forest Preserve, which is right next to the Holy Family Catholic Church property off Route 59, "a location near her workplace where they had met previously," the lawsuit outlines. "Plaintiff acquiesced due to Sanchez's position as her priest, confessor, spiritual adviser and superior within the Diocese.

"Rather than meet at the populated entrance, Sanchez locked the doors to his vehicle and drove plaintiff to a secluded location deeper in the preserve. There, Sanchez sexually assaulted plaintiff against her will," her attorney asserted.

The woman reported the sexual assault to law enforcement immediately, triggering a criminal investigation, her lawyer said. At the urging of Diocese of Joliet human resources director Pamela Geary, the plaintiff also reported the assault to the Diocese of Joliet, court files show.

The woman was forced to take Family and Medical Leave from Aug. 26, 2024 through Oct. 8, 2024, and on Nov. 1, Geary informed the woman that "appropriate actions had been taken and that plaintiff would have no further contact with Sanchez. Plaintiff was given no specifics," her lawsuit indicated.

The lawsuit explained that on March 4, 2025, the Diocese HR director revealed that the Diocese of Joliet concluded that "mutual, inappropriate, consensual behavior" occurred and that Sanchez's conduct did not constitute harassment.

"By so concluding, the Diocese branded plaintiff a liar, undermined her credibility and protected Sanchez," her lawyer asserted. "The Diocese's determination was unsupported by evidence beyond Sanchez's denial, which even law enforcement could not credit. The Diocese's actions violated its own written policies, including its Whistleblower and Anti-Retaliatory Policy, which promised no retaliation against employees who reported misconduct in good faith."