PA- Victims blast Dottie Sandusky's remarks

March 12, 2014

For immediate release: Wednesday, March 12, 2014

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

We hope more rational relatives of Sandusky will persuade Mrs. Sandusky to stop making public statements that will not help her husband and will only further hurt others.

http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/sanduskys-wife-believes-innocent-22873340

Mrs. Sandusky apparently believes she's right and everyone else is wrong – dozens of victims, police, prosecutors, judges, journalists and current and former Penn State officials. We feel sorry for her. But we feel even sorrier for the young men who are in pain because they were sexually assaulted by Jerry Sandusky and who must feel more pain today because of Mrs. Sandusky's insensitive statements.

Claiming that suffering child sex abuse victims are motivated by money is like saying adult rape victims “asked for it.” Both are outdated, self-serving myths that only deepen already deep wounds of crime victims.

(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]), Barbara Blaine (312-399-4747,[email protected]), Peter Isely (414-429-7259, [email protected]), Joelle Casteix (949-322-7434, [email protected])

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Showing 5 comments

Paul Hearn commented 2014-03-12 19:49:57 -0500
correct email address is [email protected]
Paul Hearn commented 2014-03-12 19:48:48 -0500
Previous comment is signed Don Hearn. The first name was incorrect. My name is Paul Hearn. [email protected]
Paul Hearn commented 2014-03-12 19:43:11 -0500
She claims that she is speaking out now because of “recent developments”. She’s afraid she’s going to lose her husband’s lucrative pension. She came off as a typical enabling spouse of a predator. She chooses to believe her husband because she refuses to accept that the artificial world she created with him is crumbling down around her.
Lani Halter commented 2014-03-12 17:59:43 -0500
I agree with you completely. Although, I know some Penn State alumnus who very much WANT to believe her, and don’t want to believe that sandusky is a pedophile. (The ones I know, also happen to be catholics, who actually believe that the children in the church who have been molested were just “chosen by fate to have the misfortune to have been born vulnerable to any and all pedophiles, anywhere”. So far, I have not been able to persuade them they are wrong.) I wish Matt Lauer and NBC were required to interview a victim, in fairness to all of the victims (including the adopted son of the sanduskys), because it did feel like matt lauer and ch4 were trying to help sandusky to win an appeal or get parolled early. And, the thought of that possibly happening nearly made me sick, literally.
@ tweeted this page. 2014-03-12 12:05:36 -0500
Victims blast Dottie Sandusky's remarks http://www.snapnetwork.org/pa_victims_blast_dottie_sandusky_s_remarks?recruiter_id=21019
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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.’

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