NY- Female Catholic teacher rapes boy; SNAP responds
For immediate release: Friday, March 7, 2014
Statement by Mary Caplan of New York City, SNAP Leader, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (917 439 4187, [email protected])
A female Catholic school religion teacher in the New York Archdiocese has pled guilty to raping a boy. Now, archdiocesan staff, under Cardinal Tim Dolan, must launch an aggressive public drive to find others who may have seen, suspected or suffered her crimes. And authorities must treat this criminal just like a male sex offender, with no special treatment.
So the justice system can do its job, and sentence her appropriately, those with more information about Amanda Iles' crimes must be prodded to come forward.
So that Dolan can do his job, and help others hurt by Iles, everyone else Iles hurt must be found and comforted.
So that all wrongdoers are identified and punished, anyone who may have ignored or hidden Iles' crimes must be reported to police and prosecutors.
In many child sex abuse cases in Catholic institutions, there are other school or church employees who saw or suspected or even knew about child sex crimes and chose to be silent or complicit. So there may well be other staff who broke the law here. We urge law enforcement to investigate as diligently as possible and file charges, if possible, against anyone – whether a paid employee or an adult volunteer – who failed to promptly call secular authorities the minute they knew about or had an inkling of Iles' crimes.
Whether the school operates as part of the archdiocese or not is irrelevant. Dolan is in charge of protecting every New York archdiocesan Catholic, regardless of which church institution they attend. He should use his vast resources and bully pulpit – his blog, his archdiocesan website, his parish bulletins and pulpits – to seek out anyone else who might have been raped by this Catholic teacher.
(SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the world’s oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. We’ve been around for 25 years and have more than 15,000 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 (314-862-7688 home, 314-503-0003 cell, [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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