Media Statements
We are SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. We are the largest, oldest and most active support group for women and men wounded by religious authority figures (priests, ministers, bishops, deacons, nuns and others).
Archdiocese never goes public about a Philadelphia priest accused of sexually abusing a minor in 1981
A lawsuit has been filed in New Jersey against the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, accusing Fr. Peter Foley of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old boy during a trip to the New Jersey shore in 1981. Fr. Foley, now 83, provided a statement to an Inquirer reporter from a Church-run retirement facility in Upper Darby. The cleric denied the allegations but said, "I did give the kid alcohol, but that’s as far as it went." Asked why he would serve alcohol to a minor, Fr. Foley replied, “We were at the Shore.”
Fr. Foley was on the faculty at Cardinal Dougherty High School in Philadelphia in the 1980s. According to the news report and court filing, the priest sexually abused the boy in Pennsylvania and then took him on a trip to New Jersey. SNAP stands with the victim in this case and we applaud his strength and courage in seeking truth and justice.
Church Leaders in New Orleans Defraud the Government, SNAP Is Not Surprised Since We Believe They Defraud Survivors As Well
According to reports, the Archdiocese of New Orleans is being forced to pay the U.S. government $1 million in order to resolve allegations that they defrauded the government of emergency funds in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. This is yet another sad story that shows Catholic officials care more about money than they do about being moral leaders.
It is worth noting that the Archdiocese of New Orleans is supported by one of New Orleans's richest families, the Bensons, who also own the New Orleans Saints. The family has given tens of millions of dollars to the Archdiocese and also provided in-kind donations, such as supplying their PR team to help advise Church leaders regarding their strategy to defeat claims made by sexual abuse survivors.
Portuguese bishops to set up a national committee in response to abuse allegations
The Catholic Church in Portugal is setting up a national committee to coordinate the work of local church groups looking into possible cases of child sex abuse by members of the clergy. This action comes after a devasting report revealed the depth of child sex abuse within the French Catholic Church. That study, released by an independent commission, estimated that some 330,000 children and adults were sexually abused over 70 years by priests or other Church-related figures.
We applaud this development, although a truly independent investigation by secular officials would be ideal. Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland all launched their own nationwide probes into crimes committed against their children and the vulnerable by Catholic clergy. It is long past time for other countries around the world to do the same, including the United States.
Just two years ago, Portuguese Church officials said authorities had investigated only about a dozen allegations of sexual abuse involving Portuguese priests since 2001. More than half of those cases were dropped because Church investigators decided there was not enough evidence to pursue them.
While we hope that this new development will shine a light through the dark clouds of sexual abuse in the Portuguese Catholic Church, we cannot forget the far-reaching efforts Church officials have taken to minimize this ongoing problem.
CONTACT: Michael McDonnell, Communication Manager (267-261-0578, [email protected] Zach Hiner, SNAP Executive Director (517-974-9009, [email protected]), Shaun Dougherty, SNAP Board President (814-341-8386, [email protected])
(SNAP, the Survivors Network, has been providing support for victims of sexual abuse in institutional settings for 30 years. We have more than 25,000 survivors and supporters in our network. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)
Ohio priest placed on leave, accused of "inappropriate contact" with a child
Fr. Marian Babjak was placed on administrative leave last week by the Diocese of Youngstown. The priest is accused of having "inappropriate physical contact" with a child. Fr. Babjak worked at Christ Our Savior Parish in Struthers, Ohio. According to the Mahoning Matters news outlet, the clergyman has been at the parish since at least August 2020.
While the Diocese encourages anyone who has been a victim of misconduct by a clergy member or church employee to contact its Victims Assistance Coordinator, we believe the best method of reporting such incidents is to contact law enforcement directly. Secular investigations are the way to deal with clergy sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, which has been going on unabated for decades. More importantly, such reports are more likely to reach the public, which helps survivors heal and empowers victims, many of who are still sitting in silence, to come forward.
Former Michigan Catholic priest has pleaded guilty again to sex crimes involving children
Gary Berthiaume, 79, who was accused of sexually assaulting three teenage boys in the 1970s, took pleas on Monday to a trio of charges and now likely faces as long as 15 years in prison. The Michigan Attorney General’s office said the former Catholic priest agreed to plead guilty to two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct and also pleaded no contest to one count of gross indecency.
Berthiaume was originally charged last year with assaulting a 14-year-old boy in 1977. In June, AG Dana Nessel’s office added two more charges after more victims came forward with accusations against the former priest. At the time of the assaults, Berthiaume worked as a priest at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Wyandotte and then later at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington.
Former Catholic priest and serial abuser pleads guilty to federal charges in Philadelphia
A defrocked Catholic priest from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, Robert Brennan, pleaded guilty today in federal court to four counts of making false statements to the FBI. The 84 year old former cleric now lives in Maryland. Brennan was arrested on these charges in September 2019.
SNAP’s Board President Shaun Dougherty and SNAP's Communications Manager Mike McDonnell were present in the courtroom in support of the McIlmail family. The McIlmails lost their son Sean just days before Brennan's preliminary hearing on charges that he sexually abused Sean as a child.
Brennan’s guilty plea came with an agreement that the former priest serve five years’ probation, two of which will be on home monitoring by federal officers. Judge Anita B. Brody set the sentencing date for March 2022.
SNAP applauds the life sentence given to a Catholic priest in Ohio
Fr. Robert McWilliams was sentenced to life in prison on November 9, 2021, after being convicted of multiple sex crimes that involve children. The clergyman was arrested on Dec. 5, 2019, at St. Joseph in Strongsville, Ohio, where he was working at the time. Fr. McWilliam was also affiliated with St. Helen’s in Geauga County. The priest pleaded guilty in July to juvenile sex trafficking, as well as the production and distribution of sexually explicit images of minors. Fr. McWilliams was labeled by prosecutors as a "triple threat" and "sociopath."
In their sentencing memorandum, federal officials noted that the cleric was "a consumer of child pornography and an extortionist who violated the sacrament of confession to obtain the information he later used, under aliases, to seek the production of sexually explicit material from boys he was 'counseling.'” Additionally, prosecutors said Fr. McWilliams pretended to be a female on social media sites to contact underage male victims he knew from his parishes in Strongsville and Newbury Township.
258 abuse victims found in Nebraska AG investigation into clergy sexual assault
In August 2018, on the heels of the scathing grand jury report on six Pennsylvania Catholic dioceses, Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson took steps toward getting to the bottom of clergy abuse in his own state. We are grateful that the AG initiated this investigation and, more importantly, opened up a hotline so that survivors' voices could be heard. We hope that this example is followed by the attorneys general in the remaining states that have yet to open an investigation.
In the report issued today, AG Peterson reported that his office received 258 complaints of sexual abuse by clergy. However, in a sobering and disappointing fashion, it turned out that only one of those cases could be prosecuted, although the victim, in that case, decided to not move forward with charges.
SNAP applauds a brave survivor of abuse in CT stepping forward after years of pain.
Jacci van Alder, 60, now of Vermont, has made several attempts in the last two years to gain recognition and justice. In our view, each and every survivor who gives of their voice will help another survivor who is sitting in deafening silence. We are happy to share Jacci’s story with her consent to do so.
Like too many others, Alder alleges that she was groomed, gaslighted, beaten, psychologically tortured and sexually molested by the head of her church for more than 10 years. Unlike so many others, it also happened to be her own father. He allowed a teenage boy from the church to begin molesting her at age 4 when he babysat. She endured her father’s misogynistic and narcissistic control, alcoholism, womanizing, encounters with school-age girls, his addiction to porn, his open 10-year affair with his church secretary and the beatings. She got hit with belts, 2 x 4's, hands, fists, and finally attempted strangulation. “It all has to be told," says Alder.
Man Running “Religious Mentorship” Group Arrested for Child Sexual Abuse, SNAP Calls for Action
A man who had been running a “religious mentorship institute” out of his home in McLean, Virginia, was arrested this week for sexually assaulting two children who took part in the program. This is a disturbing case that we hope will bring increased scrutiny from the government as to how such programs are licensed and monitored, and will make parents think carefully about the people with whom they trust their children.