MO--Records about KC predator priests are made public

For immediate release: Monday, Jan. 19

Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 566 9790, [email protected], [email protected])

Roughly 150 pages of long-secret Catholic church records about a predator priest who molested at least one Kansas City child have been released. He worked at parishes and high schools in at least four cities, was a military chaplain for three decades, and was active nationally in black Catholic organizations.

http://www.andersonadvocates.com/Posts/News-or-Event/1942/Files-of-6-Archdiocese-of-Saint-Paul-and-Minneapolis-Priests-Released--.aspx   

Until 2006, Fr. Thaddeus Posey worked as a professor at a Catholic university in Minnesota. But he also worked in as a chaplain at various institutions in Parsons KS and Kansas City KS from 1977-1990. He received an MBA from Rockhurst College.

We beg Bishop Robert Finn and Archbishop Joseph Naumann to show some compassion for those Fr. Posey hurt. We urge them to use their parish bulletins, church websites, pulpit announcements and public relations staffers to aggressively seek out anyone who may have seen, suspected or suffered Fr. Posey’s crimes.

Fr. Posey also worked in St. Louis, at Cardinal Ritter Prep, as a ‘guardian’ at St. Patrick Friary (1986-1990), director of the St. Charles Lwanga Center (1980-1981), and as a theology professor at St. Louis University (1982-1990) where he also began his doctoral studies.

In 2004, Posey and three other priests (Fr. Michael Barry, Fr. Chester Gaiter and Fr. James Theil.) were sued for allegedly molesting Charles Spearman in St. Louis. Spearman’s case settled out of court in 2007.

The documents show that church officials sent Posey to treatment at least twice – once at the St. Michael’s Center in St. Louis and once in Washington DC. (page 51).

They also show that Posey’s victim reported the incident to the St. Louis superintendent of schools.” (page 53) That’s especially worrisome because it suggests he may have had access to city school kids.

We hope that those with information or suspicions about Fr. Posey’s crimes will speak up, get help, expose wrongdoers, protect kids and start healing. And we hope that every single current and former Catholic employee in the Kansas City area will share what they know or suspect about Fr. Posey with the public, police and prosecutors.

(SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the world’s oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. We were founded in 1988 and have 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, [email protected], Barbara Dorris 314-503-0003, [email protected], Barbara Blaine 312-399-4747, [email protected]