OH--Victims prod Cleveland bishop over child porn priest
For immediate release: Thursday, July 16
Statement by David Clohessy, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 566 9790, [email protected])
A priest who worked in Cleveland has been sentenced to prison on unrelated child pornography crimes. We now hope law enforcement officials will pursue charges against any clerics who helped him conceal his crimes.
From 1983-1984, Fr. Richard James Kurtz taught at Gesu school, with 600+ students, at 450 Miramar Blvd in University Heights (216-932-0620). But he will spend 12 years behind bars.
http://www.bishopaccountability.org/assign/Kurtz_Richard_James_sj.htm
In 2011, Fr. Kurtz was arrested in Chicago on charges that he sexually assaulted a boy age 10 in 2001 outside Denver. The following year, he pled guilty.
Then in September 2014, he was arrested on the child porn charges. They involved boys in Detroit where Fr. Kurtz, a Jesuit, taught school. He pled guilty in February.
This week in Detroit, he was sentenced for those crimes. He was already on the sex offender registry in Missouri, where he had been quietly sent to live in a Catholic facility.
We believe Fr. Kurtz is dangerous and apt to repeat his crimes. He should not be given a chance to hurt another child. Our view isn’t punitive. It’s preventative.
We hope every single person who saw, suspected or suffered clergy sex crimes and cover ups by Fr. Kurtz or cover ups by his church colleagues - in Illinois, Ohio, Michigan or Missouri - will speak up, call police, expose wrongdoers and protect kids. We also hope that they get help and start recovering.
We’d urge them, however, to call secular authorities and sources of help, not church sources.
And we urge Cleveland Catholic officials – especially Bishop Richard Lennon – to aggressively seek out others who may have been hurt by Fr. Kurtz. Lennon should use church websites, parish bulletins and pulpit announcements to find and help others who may still be suffering in shame, silence and self-blame.
NOTE – Fr. Kurtz’ photo and work history are here: http://www.bishopaccountability.org/assign/Kurtz_Richard_James_sj.htm
(SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is 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, S[email protected]), Barbara Dorris (314-503-0003cell, [email protected]), Barbara Blaine (312-399-4747, [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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