CA- Sex offenders challenge laws
For immediate release: Friday, May 16 2014
Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 566 9790, [email protected])
A group of convicted sex offenders are mounting legal attacks on laws regulating where they can live. We urge caution here and hope that courts rebuff these challenges.
These laws aren't perfect. But let's keep some perspective. While a relatively small group of grown-ups face some problems because of imperfect laws, a much larger group of children face substantially more horrific damage because of adult criminals.
These laws are relatively new, but for decades we as a society have minimized child sex crimes and made it very hard for victims to expose predators, seek justice, protect others and start healing. The vulnerable and the wounded should be our priority, not those who have caused and may still be causing such horrific pain.
Some estimate that one in three or four girls and one in seven or eight boys are sexually violated. That's where our focus really belongs – on combating this crisis first, before fixating on where convicted criminal may or may not live.
Adults who want to change these laws to help other adults should move slowly. And they should first address a much more devastating injustice: the harm done to hundreds of thousands of boys and girls who are sexually assaulted by child molesters.
If sex offender laws are too vague or broad and need to be made clearer and tighter, that's a discussion that may be worth having. But it should happen only after our society, lawmakers and law enforcement officials figure how to do a much better job of protecting kids.
(SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the world’s oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. We’ve been around for 25 years and have more than 18,000 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 (314-862-7688 home, 314-503-0003 cell, [email protected])
Winter Appeal 2023
To our friends,
2023 has been a long year with many ups and downs for us all. As we close out the year, we at SNAP hope that you are feeling like you are on your way to being healthy, fulfilled, and happy. This past year has brought both successes and challenges. Thanks to the support you have shown in the past, we’ve been able to celebrate the good days and weather the stormy ones. Now, we are once again asking for your support as we work to support survivors new and old as we ‘Move SNAP Forward.’
At SNAP we are proud to have hosted a very well-attended conference in August 2023. This event allowed us to gather friends, survivors, advocates, and allies for a weekend of camaraderie and connection. We were so happy to be able to welcome many first-time attendees to gather in person and are already looking forward to the next conference.
To strengthen our movement for justice, healing, and prevention, SNAP will be expanding our peer support and providing more volunteer opportunities in the coming year. Through this great work, we are ensuring survivor voices are represented as we work for significant change that will benefit children and survivors.
Right now, survivors worldwide are getting the help they need from SNAP, and more and more reach out to us daily, but we need your help to keep those programs going and get our volunteers the training they need to thrive.
Your tax-deductible gift to SNAP can help offset the cost of our important mission. If you are not in a position to contribute, you can still support us by sharing this letter with those who can. As we continue to fight for survivors across the globe, your donation or sharing the great work SNAP does will help us continue our work to protect the vulnerable, heal the wounded, and prevent abuse.
Your donation ensures SNAP will be there for those who need us more than ever!
Warmly,
Michael W. McDonnell, C.P.S.
Interim Executive Director
Showing 2 comments
That is 100% unacceptable and must be addressed first and foremost, quickly and efficiently. My gratitude to those who are doing it.
In fact, I almost just can’t stand to even think about any of these convicted pedophiles being released from jail, let alone again allowed to be preditors. How in “God’s green earth”, do these people FIND attorneys to represent such twisted and perverse demands of convicted pedophiles??? Or, maybe this one studied in prison and is representing himself because no one else would represent him. In view of my opinion on what should have been his fate upon conviction, I think any of them should consider themselves lucky to have been able to “study” anything while incarcerated, and what’s more, consider themselves lucky and be grateful they weren’t given a death penalty for their crimes.