MD--Catholic volunteer is arrested on child sex charges
For immediate release: Friday, Dec. 9, 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])
A Catholic church volunteer has been arrested on child sexual abuse. Now Baltimore Archbishop William Lori must act. If he doesn’t other church staff and members should.
Terrence Shondry Smalls is charged this week with sex abuse of a minor, second degree assault, child abuse, second-degree custodian and second-degree sex offense, crimes he allegedly committed at Church of the Nativity in Lutherville. He also worked or volunteered at a Girl Scout troop, Epworth church and at Pot Spring Elementary School.
Lori should personally visit Nativity this weekend. He should beg anyone with information or suspicions about Smalls to call police. He should use church bulletins, parish websites and pulpit announcements across the archdiocese to do the same.
Why? Because that’s what a caring shepherd would do. Because that’s what will help police and prosecutors resolve this case. Because that’s what will help keep Smalls behind bars longer if he’s convicted. Because that might help avoid Smalls exploiting technicalities and going free. And because that’s how Catholic officials will start to break the centuries-long culture of secrecy in the church about sexual crimes, misdeeds and cover-ups.
Officials at the Girl Scouts, Epworth and Pot Spring Elementary should do likewise. History, psychology and common sense all suggest there are other Smalls victims out there. They need help. Outreach will find them.
Baltimore church officials are saying “If church personnel are suspected of committing the abuse, call the Archdiocesan Office of Child and Youth Protection.” That’s wrong. That’s reckless. That’s self-serving. Police or prosecutors should be called when anyone knows of or suspicions crime, period.
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])
Baltimore County church volunteer charged with child sex abuse
WMAR Staff - 12:09 PM, Dec 9, 2016
TIMONIUM, Md. - A volunteer at the Church of the Nativity in Lutherville has been charged with sexually abusing a 4-year-old girl, Baltimore County Police said.
Terrence Shondry Smalls, 26, of Lutherville was charged this week with sex abuse of a minor, second degree assault, child abuse, second-degree custodian and second-degree sex offense. He is being held without bail at the Baltimore County Detention Center.
Police said the girl told her mother last month she had been sexually abused by a man volunteering in the church nursery during a Sunday morning mass.
Police said Smalls has been employed or has volunteered at a number of locations that put him in contact with . . .
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
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