Media Statements

SNAP is grateful that Fr. Robert DeLand has been sentenced to jail. We applaud this outcome and are thankful to the police and prosecutors who helped his victims find justice.

In the past several weeks, hundreds of survivors of abuse at the hands of Boy Scout leaders have come forward . SNAP stands with these brave survivors as they share what happened to them and to seek to prevent future children from being abused.

An accused Philadelphia priest found to be “unsuitable for ministry” went on to get a job at an Arizona school until vigilant watchdogs blew the whistle.

This month, Pennsylvania has continued the fight to reform child sex crime laws as House lawmakers approved two key reform measures and freshman Senators in the other house introduced a third counter bill aimed at similar purposes. 

We are disappointed that the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Fr. John Gallagher’s defamation case against the Diocese of Palm Beach.

An admitted serial predator priest who worked in Columbia lost his bid for a bond reduction yesterday and will remain jailed in St. Louis County facing more child sex abuse charges.

--Fr. James V. McCormick lived in at least two South Dakota towns, Bridgewater and Marion, and attended at least two colleges, St. John’s University in Collegeville, MN and the University of South Dakota. He was a priest and teacher in theSioux Falls diocese for more than 30 years, moving to Kansas City, Missouri in the late 1980s where he worked for many years. He died in 2017 in South Dakota. Fr. McCormick was ‘outed’ by Sioux Falls church officials in March 2019.

https://www.kinzleyfh.com/obituary/4181218

The below is a copy of a letter that was sent to Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt from leaders of SNAP Missouri.

For immediate release: April 16, 2019

To ignore warnings and expressions of concern about a child care worker brought forward by one person is bad enough, but for an educator to disregard repeated reports by both parents and teachers is unconscionable. 

We have no first hand knowledge about the allegations of “systemic” child sexual abuse at the Edlavitch Tyser Early Childhood Center. However, we know that false allegations of child sexual abuse are extremely rare, so our hearts ache for the children and their families who have filed police reports and are suing the Center. We hope that the boys and girls involved are getting the therapy and support they need.

The Diocese of Buffalo continues to be among the nation’s leading dioceses in terms of obfuscation and minimization of abuse. The latest news from upstate New York shows that the diocesan review board in Buffalo had examined the cases of 27 priests – at least 13 of whom had been accused of abusing children – but declined to substantiate the claims.