Argentina--Convicted abuser attacked in church; Victims respond

For immediate release: Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2016

Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 566 9790, 314 645 5915 home, [email protected])

We are upset that a convicted child molester was beaten to death in an Argentine church. Violence is never the answer. 

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/851181/pedophile-killed-in-attack-by-parents-inside-cathedral

But we’re also upset that Marcelo Fabian Pecollo was working in the church to begin with. We believe it’s reckless and callous for church officials to employ or host convicted child molesters, especially when they’re apt to be up on the altar or in front of congregants – places of prominence that likely rub even more salt into the already deep and still fresh wounds of victims and their loved ones. Very rarely, it’s also reckless for the safety of the molester himself.

Criminals who have completed their sentences should not go hungry or jobless. But they should not be given positions of respect or power, especially in churches. Too often, predators use positions like this to gain legitimacy and build trust, especially with trusting parents. Then, they often assault innocent kids or vulnerable adults.

No matter what happens in this case, we urge every single person who saw, suspected or suffered child sex crimes and cover ups in churches or institutions to protect kids by calling police, get help by calling therapists, expose wrongdoers by calling attorneys, and be comforted by calling support groups like ours. This is how kids will be safer, adults will recover, criminals will be prosecuted, cover ups will be deterred and the truth will surface.

(SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the world’s oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. SNAP was founded in 1988 and has more than 20,000 members. Despite the word “priest” in our title, we have members who were molested by religious figures of all denominations, including nuns, rabbis, bishops, and Protestant ministers. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)

Contact - David Clohessy (+1 314-566-9790 cell, [email protected]), Barbara Dorris (+1 314-503-0003 cell, [email protected])

Pedophile killed in attack by parents inside cathedral

Agence France-Presse / 01:14 PM December 06, 2016

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — A trumpeter has died after being badly  beaten during a concert he was giving in a cathedral near Buenos Aires, attacked by parents from a preschool where he had molested children, a priest said Monday.

Marcelo Fabian Pecollo, a music teacher and trumpeter with the Moron city orchestra, was sentenced in 2010 to 30 years in prison for molesting five preschool children. He was freed in 2014 after a sentence reduction.

The attack took place on October 30 at the cathedral in Moron, a Buenos Aires suburb.

The group of parents barged into the cathedral yelling:  . . . 

Read full article here