MI-- Abusive Catholic teacher pleads guilty
For immediate release: Thursday, May 21
Statement by SNAP leader Bill McAlary (616-514-0654, [email protected])
We’re grateful that a child molesting Catholic school teacher has pled guilty to more crimes and we hope she’ll get a very stiff sentence that keeps her away from kids for a long time.
Katheryn Ronk taught – and abused – at Bishop Foley High School in the Oakland County city of Madison Heights. She also faced charges in Macomb County, where some of her crimes took place.
All too often, child molesters are prosecuted in several jurisdictions but after one guilty plea, the other charges are dropped. This saves time for law enforcement officials but means that predators get out of prison sooner and can hurt more kids. We’re glad this didn’t happen with Ronk.
And all too often, child sex crimes by female predators are treated lightly. This is unwise, unhealthy and hurtful. Any time an adult – of any gender – assaults a child, it’s very devastating. And that adult should be punished harshly, along with anyone else who may have seen or suspected such crimes and kept silent or hid them.
Along those lines, we hope that law enforcement officials look hard at whether any current or former Catholic school staffers may have known about or suspected Ronk’s crimes and concealed or ignored them. This has happened in thousands of cases of abuse by Catholic church and school officials. It may have happened here.
We urge anyone who may have seen, suspected or suffered child sex crimes or cover ups in the Detroit archdiocese – whether in a school or a parish, whether by a cleric or lay person – to call police, expose wrongdoers, protect kids, and start healing.
(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)
(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]), Barbara Blaine (312-399-4747, [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
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