MN - Child molesting cleric gets monthly bonus
For immediate release: Friday, October 11, 2013
Statement by David Clohessy, Executive Director, SNAP, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, 7234 Arsenal Street, St. Louis MO 63143 (314 566 9790, [email protected])
A priest who was found guilty of child sex abuse by a jury is still a priest, is unsupervised, lives in a $500,000 lakeside home and gets extra payments above his retirement.
Minnesota Public Radio disclosed that Fr. Robert Kapoun, who was found guilty of abuse in 1996, also spends half of each year living in Florida.
Archbishop Nienstedt's action in this case is the perfect storm of recklessness callousness and deceit.
It's reckless to let a proven serial predator priest live unsupervised.
It's callous to give a proven serial predator priest bonus pay.
And it's deceitful to do all this secretly, without telling parishioners, parents, the public and Fr. Kapoun's victims.
Here are the facts: A jury found that Fr. Kapoun repeatedly molested Dale Scheffler and awarded Scheffler $1 million. Later, an appellate court overturned the verdict because of the statute of limitations. In an extraordinarily cruel move, archdiocesan officials sent Scheffler a bill for $6,019.10 for its legal expenses.
Meanwhile, records show that Catholic officials let Kapoun retire early and sent him funds above his pension that totaled about $160,000 by 2012. According to MPR, Kapoun gets $957.50 every month — plus his regular pension checks of $1,510.50.
Several accused priests who've received payments in addition to regular pension checks, according to two former top church officials. Those payments reportedly total $200,000 to $250,000 a year.
According to MPR, Fr. Kapoun says he is "very happy."
Let’s hope Minnesota Catholics aren’t very happy.
Contact - David Clohessy (314-566-9790 cell, [email protected]), Barbara Dorris (314-862-7688 home, 314-503-0003 cell, [email protected]), Bob Schwiderski (952 471 3422, [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.
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Warmly,
Michael W. McDonnell, C.P.S.
Interim Executive Director