CA--Group applauds Sac abuse victim who's suing today

For immediate release: Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2016

Statement by Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, Outreach Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314-503-0003 cell, [email protected])

We applaud the brave family of a boy who is suing Sacramento city and school officials for abuse by a now-convicted child molesting teacher. We applaud his attorneys for holding a news conference today to expose those who ignored warning signs of the teacher’s wrongdoing.

http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/education/article120525573.html

Lawsuits like this one often get sorely-needed help for suffering victims of heinous crimes. But there’s another very good reason for those who have been hurt by predators to file civil suits. Simply put, such cases deter future cover ups and inaction. 

Criminal cases often take dangerous people off the streets. But they do little to expose or punish those who suspect or know of crimes but don’t stop them by calling 911.

Civil cases however, like the one against Joshua Vasquez and his former employers show these timid wrongdoers that they can face serious consequences if they ignore or hide known or suspected child sex crimes.

So we hope that this courageous family’s legal action will indeed help them. But we are confident it will also help others make the right choice when they suspect a predator is harming a youngster.

No matter what lawmakers or church officials do or don’t do, we urge every single person who saw, suspected or suffered child sex crimes and cover ups in churches, schools or other institutions to protect kids by calling police, get help by calling therapists, expose wrongdoers by calling law enforcement, get justice 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 (314-566-9790 cell, [email protected]), Barbara Dorris (314-503-0003 cell, [email protected])