MN--Victims: Ruling means MN is in “forefront” of kids’ safety
For immediate release: Tuesday, June 30
Statement by Frank Meuers, Minnesota SNAP leader, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (952-334-5180, frankameuers@gmail.com)
Though many predator priests are now suspended from parishes, many church officials who shielded them have are now promoted. That’s why we applaud a new ruling in St. Cloud that lets a clergy sex abuse and cover up suit move forward. This decision will help police, prosecutors, parents, parishioners and the public learn about who has and who is endangering kids and protecting predators.
These nuisance suits put Minnesota at the forefront of a growing national movement to expose those who commit and conceal heinous crimes against children. In no other state have child sex abuse victims been as successful at disgorging secrets from corrupt institutions through the creative and aggressive use of this novel legal strategy. We praise each victim who has done this for his or her courage.
We are grateful to this brave survivor for bringing this lawsuit and to Stearns County District Court Judge Kris Davick-Halfen for ruling on the side of children’s safety.
We urge St. Cloud diocesan officials, especially Bishop Donald Joseph Kettler, to “come clean” about both the predators and the enablers who are or have been on the Catholic church payroll in his diocese.
( Kettler hasn’t been in St. Cloud long but his track record on abuse is dismal:
http://www.snapnetwork.org/mn_new_mn_bishop_named_snap_responds )
There are 63 publicly accused child molesting clerics who are or have been in the St. Cloud diocese. That’s an awful lot for a relatively small diocese.
But there many more current and former Catholic clerics in St. Cloud who have ignored, hidden or enabled these dreadful crimes. They deserve to be exposed.
(SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, 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, SNAPclohessy@aol.com), Barbara Dorris (314-503-0003 cell, bdorris@SNAPnetwork.org), Barbara Blaine (312-399-4747, bblaine@snapnetwork.org), Verne Wagner of Duluth, Northeast MN SNAP director (218- 340-1277, lwagsmn@yahoo.com)
Barbara Blaine, founder of SNAP, passed away on Sunday, September 24th, 2017. Her dying was sudden and completely unexpected. Words cannot express our sorrow nor are there words to express our gratitude for her relentless advocacy. She truly was a hero. There is an old saying, “well behaved women seldom make history”. Barbara made history and the world is a better place.
We have put together a tribute for Barbara Blaine to honor her memory. If you would like to contribute a memory, please send your favorite memory of Barbara to admin@snapnetwork.org
50 State AG Call for Grand Jury
Write a letter to the attorney general of your state. Demand, request, and beg them to impanel a grand jury.
Any investigation must be:
- independent of and separate from the church
- must have subpoena powers and ability to compel testimony under oath
Anything short of these criteria is a sham and whitewash.
In addition, write letters to the editor, make phone calls to politicians as they can apply pressure to keep them responsive to our demand. We need to make efforts to ensure that they follow up on what the state is doing to investigate these crimes.
The Attorneys General of forty states have inquired about the grand jury process in Pennsylvania. Let's get statewide investigations going in fifty states.
Note to Letter Writers
Use your own words and style of writing. Cut and paste from the templates as you wish. Include your experiences, whether as a survivor or as a member of the community. And relate your letter to the state you were abused in or state now living in.
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Way to go Judge Kris Davick-Halfen and the abuse survivor Doe 50. Doe 50 is brave and obviously doesn’t want what happened to him as a child (abuse) happening to any more children, now or in the future. The judge has common sense, is mature and is responsible. The judge was right to rule in favour of child protection, protect the vulnerable I say.