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A civil lawsuit has been filed accusing the Diocese of Orlando, St. Joseph Catholic Church, and St. Joseph Catholic School in Palm Bay of negligence in connection to decades of alleged sexual abuse by former priest Robert “Father Bob” Hoeffner—abuse that has now been linked to a triple murder that rocked the Palm Bay community last year.

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Attorney Jeff Herman of Herman Law, who represents sexual abuse survivors, announced the lawsuit during a press conference in Orlando. The suit was filed on behalf of survivor Shawn Teuber, who alleges he was repeatedly sexually abused by Hoeffner while attending St. Joseph Catholic School from 2012 through 2014, beginning in seventh grade.

The lawsuit claims Hoeffner was a “prolific sex abuser of children,” particularly young boys within the Palm Bay church community. The allegations also state that Hoeffner’s sister, Sally Hoeffner, who lived with him, facilitated access to the victims by allowing the boys to spend time at their home where the abuse continued.

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The scandal gained national attention in January 2024 after Hoeffner, 76, was found shot to death along with his sister Sally, 69, and William Kapas Sr., 74, the grandfather of Brandon Kapas—a former student at St. Joseph’s and childhood friend of Teuber. The late attorney Daniel Martinez was representing Brandon in a separate matter at the time of the killings. Martinez was also investigating the sexual allegations against Hoeffner by his client.

According to police reports, Kapas, then 24, fatally shot his grandfather, Hoeffner, and Hoeffner’s sister before engaging in a gunfight with responding Palm Bay police officers on Emerson Drive. His grandfather is believed to have been shot unintentionally while trying to intervene in the chaos. Two officers were seriously injured before Kapas was fatally shot by police. The Space Coast Rocket covered the shooting live.

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Investigators later uncovered disturbing allegations suggesting both Kapas and Teuber had been sexually abused by Hoeffner while they were students at St. Joseph Catholic School. The lawsuit claims Hoeffner used the boys’ confessions during church activities as leverage to coerce them into sexual acts both on school grounds and at his home.

“I really can’t sleep because I have nightmares. I have mood swings,” Teuber said during the press conference. “I want to protect people and prevent anything that could happen like what happened with my friend.”

The lawsuit, filed in Orange County Circuit Court, seeks at least $25 million in damages and alleges the Diocese of Orlando failed to take proper action despite being aware of Hoeffner’s conduct for years. The lawsuit claims church officials had been alerted to suspicions regarding Hoeffner’s behavior but failed to intervene or report the abuse.

Attorney Jeff Herman stated that this lawsuit is about holding the Diocese accountable for a failure of oversight that ultimately contributed to both the abuse and the tragic chain of events that culminated in the Palm Bay triple murder.

Palm Bay police reports indicate that in the months leading up to the killings, Kapas had been exhibiting signs of mental instability, possibly triggered by past abuse. Law enforcement sources have also confirmed that suspicion of Kapas’ own sexual abuse by Hoeffner factored into the investigation.

The Diocese of Orlando has not publicly commented on the lawsuit as of this publication.

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