Clergy sex abuse victims are "outraged"

They demand local archbishop punish principal

In a letter, Catholic school president ‘outed’ molestation victim

It’s a’mean-spirited’ move to ‘intimidate others who are in pain’ SNAP says

Group believes church officials want to “scare” witnesses & whistleblowers too

WHAT
At a news conference, clergy sex abuse victims will
-- provide copies of a controversial new letter sent out this week by a Catholic school principal in which he discloses the identity
-- harshly blast the principal and other staff at the prominent school, and
-- publicly insist that the Minneapolis-St. Paul archbishop punish the principal for his ‘intimidating’ and ‘insensitive’ move

WHEN
TODAY, Friday, May 22, 1:30 p.m.

WHERE
Outside the headquarters of the Archdiocese of St. Paul & Minneapolis, 226 Summit Avenue, in St. Paul

WHO
Two men who were abused as kids by priests and who belong to a support group called SNAP.(Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests)

WHY
On Monday, SNAP announced that a former student at Cretin-Derham Hall High School filed a civil lawsuit charging that a) he was sexually assaulted by Brother Charles Anthony "Raimond" Rose (who worked at the school, and b) that school officials knew or should have known that Rose was a pedophile.

The man filed the suit anonymously, as most victims of sex crimes almost always do.

That same day, Cretin-Derham Hall principal Richard R. Engler sent a letter to alums naming the victim.

SNAP believes this was a deliberate attempt to intimidate victims, witnesses and whistleblowers into staying silent. The group wants Archbishop John Nienstedt to publicly punish Engler and make a strong statement throughout the archdiocese that other church workers will be fired for such callousness and insensitivity.

Catholic officials can't have it both ways, SNAP says. They can't urge victims to come forward and promise them help, while letting church employees attack victims or violate their privacy.

In 1970, Rose molested the then-teenaged boy at the Dunrovin Christian Brothers Retreat Center in Marine on St. Croix, Minnesota.

In the 1960s, Rose repeatedly molested a different teenager at DeLaSalle High School in Minneapolis, MN. Church and school officials let Rose work there, despite earlier reports, that Rose sexually abused at least one other child at the school.

In 2003, Rose was named in a civil suit as having abused a third boy on ski trip in 1982. In 2004, that suit was settled for $1 million. In 1983, church officials moved Rose back to Minnesota when allegations publicly surfaced that he was an molester.

The lawsuit charges three Catholic institutions (the Christian Brothers of the Midwest, The Christian Brothers of Minnesota and Cretin-Derham) with fraud. It was filed in Ramsey County Circuit Court. The Christian Brothers’ regional headquarters is in Chicago and their local headquarters is at 1883 Laurel Avenue in St. Paul.

http://www.startribune.com/local/stpaul/45322202.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUnciaec8O7EyUsl

CONTACT
Bob Schwiderski of Wayzata, Minnesota SNAP Director (952) 471 3422
David Clohessy of St. Louis, SNAP National Director (314) 566 9790 cell, (314) 645 5915 home