Unusual "fake cleric" lives in Tampa area

Man lived at rectory, claimed to be ex-Jesuit & dressed as priest

Support group urges local diocese to do outreach about imposter

For years, church officials let him function as a deacon leading services

He's now being sued for molesting a boy and fled to Florida, SNAP learns

Group wants church officials to warn the community about this dangerous predator

WHAT
Holding signs and childhood photos at a sidewalk news conference, clergy sex abuse victims will
--- discuss a pending child sex abuse lawsuit against an odd alleged 'cleric' who now lives in Tampa,
--- disclose the accused child molester's current local address,
--- warn families to keep their children away from him, and
--- challenge church officials to do all they can to alert the public and parishioners about him.

They'll also publicly urge anyone who saw, suspected or suffered his child sex crimes to contact law enforcement.

WHEN
Thursday , Oct. 22, 1:00 p.m.

WHERE
Outside the Catholic diocesan headquarters (chancery office), 6363 9th Avenue North in St. Petersburg, FL

WHO
Two sex abuse victims who belong to a national support group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPnetwork.org), including a Tampa woman who is the group's long time Tampa area director

VISUALS
The participants will hold signs and childhood pictures. Several photos of the accused predator will be available.

WHY
In 2007, a Tampa man was accused in a civil lawsuit of molesting a boy in a Minnesota Catholic church years earlier. SNAP is upset that for nearly two years, church officials in both states have evidently done little to nothing to find others who were hurt by the predator or warn others at risk of being hurt by the predator.

According to the suit (still pending in Ramsey County, Minnesota), Thomas David Kemp lived in the rectory and volunteered extensively (at mass and elsewhere) at St. Agnes parish and school in St. Paul, Minnesota from 1986 to 1992. Kemp claimed to be a Roman Catholic deacon and former Jesuit but is apparently neither.

Since 1992, records show that church officials knew of his fraud but apparently stayed silent. And since 2007, church officials knew he was being sued for allegedly molesting a child, but again, they apparently stayed silent.

The group is asking both dioceses to use their diocesan newspapers, church websites, parish bulletins, and other resources to warn families about Kemp and to prod anyone who may have seen, suspected of suffered

his crimes to come forward, get help, and call police.

During those years, the suit says, Kemp became a kind of "surrogate uncle" to a prepubescent second or third grade boy. Then, Kemp repeatedly sexually molested the child. The crimes continued until the boy was around 10 to 13 years old.

The victim's lawsuit was filed in Dec. 2007. Defendants include Kemp, the Minnesota parish and the St. Paul-Minneapolis archdiocese. It seeks unspecified damages.

Kemp, a Sparta WI native, is now 62 and lives at 5830 Memorial Hwy, Apt. 1310 in Tampa. (It's the Audubon Village Apartments, 813 886 5568.) It is unclear what, if anything, he does for a living. SNAP fears that Kemp could be currently working with children and that the community has no idea a dangerous sexual predator is living in their neighborhood.

Kemp's victim, Ben Magler, is now 28 and lives in Minnesota. His attorneys are Jeff Anderson (612 817 8665 cell) and Patrick Noaker (612 961 1307 cell) of St. Paul (office 651 227 9990).

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2007/11_12/2007_12_17_Gurnon_ManAlleges.htm
http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2007/11_12/2007_12_18_Lonetree_ConMan.htm

CONTACT
Martha Jean Lorenzo, SNAP Tampa director 813 879 6290 home, 727 512 1689 cell
Barbara Dorris, SNAP outreach director 314 503 0003 cell, 312 445 1499
David Clohessy, SNAP national director 314 566 9790 cell, 314 645 5915 home