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, [email protected])

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.

http://www.andersonadvocates.com/Posts/News-or-Event/2004/Court-Rules-That-Survivor%E2%80%99s-Public-Nuisance-Claim-Against-Diocese-of-St-Cloud-May-Proceed.aspx

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, [email protected]), Barbara Dorris (314-503-0003 cell, [email protected]), Barbara Blaine (312-399-4747, [email protected]), Verne Wagner of Duluth, Northeast MN SNAP director (218- 340-1277, [email protected])