Predator lives at day care center, victims say

They disclose that state officials are investigating

Alleged child molesting cleric was “outed” just weeks ago

“Several sources” tell SNAP he’s in Bristol CT & Otis MA

Groups ask national Catholic panel to denounce archbishop

And they want Hartford Catholic officials to “come clean” about pedophiles

WHAT
Holding signs and childhood photos at a sidewalk news conference, clergy sex abuse victims and their supporters will
---DISCLOSE disclose that Connecticut Department of Public Health officials are investigating a recently-exposed alleged child molesting priest who lives at a licensed home day care center in Connecticut, and
---URGE state officials to investigate quickly and thoroughly and
---URGE church officials to
--admit the cleric is a credibly accused child molester,
--put him in a secure, remote treatment center, and
--aggressively seek out others who may have seen, suspected or suffered his crimes.

They will also try to hand-deliver a letter to top local church officials about the situation and disclose a letter they’re sending to a national Catholic abuse panel seeking their intervention in the matter.

WHEN
Wednesday, May 25 at 1:30 p.m.

WHERE
In front of the Cathedral of St. Joseph, 140 Farmington Avenue (corner of Sigourney) in Hartford, Connecticut.

WHO
Three child sex abuse victims who belong to a support group called the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), and two Catholic parishioners who belong to a reform group called Voice of the Faithful (VOTF).

WHY
Earlier this month, SNAP learned, via email, that the state Health Department is investigating a licensed Bristol child care center where a credibly accused predator priest reportedly lives. The cleric, Fr. Richard P. McGann, was suspended from ministry by Hartford archdiocesan official in 2005, although they refuse to say why.

Last month, SNAP disclosed a previously secret six-page 2009 settlement between the archdiocese and a man who reported being sexually abused 200 times by McGann. Since then, SNAP has heard from numerous sources that McGann, whose whereabouts were unknown, lives at Pumpkin Patch Day Care Center (31 Root Ave., Bristol).

SNAP wrote to the head of the Connecticut Public Health Department urging that her agency look into McGann’s presence at the facility. Late last month, Child Care Licensing Specialist Diana Reyes confirmed that such an investigation has begun. (A copy of her email to SNAP will be provided at the news conference.)

Pumpkin Patch Day Care Center is run by Debra Zakrzewski. In her 2002 bankruptcy filing, she lists McGann on a 1991 Gulfstream Motor Home and claims $269 a week income for cleaning services at a church. (SNAP suspects but cannot prove that it is McGann’s former parish.)

SNAP is urging Hartford Archbishop Henry Mansell to 1) admit McGann was ousted because of credible child sex allegations, 2) put McGann in a secure, remote treatment center so children can be safe and he can get treatment, 3) disclose whether the archdiocese has made other secret settlements involving other child molesting clerics, and 4) beg other McGann victims to call police (so the cleric might be prosecuted).

SNAP has been told that the priest also stays sometimes with his aunt on Lynn Road in Bristol (near Stafford School), owns a trailer he keeps at a Klondike camp in Otis, Massachusetts, drives a silver Chrysler, and now works at H&R Block in the New Britain area. McGann previously worked at St. Gregory the Great Church and at St. Paul’s Catholic School (both in Bristol), before his final clerical position at Our Lady of Mercy in Plainville, Connecticut from 1987-2005.

One concerned citizen told SNAP that he brought concerns, in person and accompanied by a witness, about McGann’s suspicions behavior around children to Mansell’s predecessor, Daniel Cronin, in the mid-1990s. However, despite pledges that "we'll take care of it," no action was apparently taken.

SNAP is also harshly criticizing Mansell and other Hartford church staffers for refusing, for six years, to tell parishioners and the public the reasons for McGann’s ouster.

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2011/03_04/2011_03_29_Stannard_SNAPCalls.htm

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2011/03_04/2011_03_31_Backus_PriestsPast.htm

Finally, SNAP is writing to the National Review Board, a panel picked by America’s bishops to overseeing how prelates deal with abuse cases, asking them to criticize Mansell for his secrecy and misdeeds.

CONTACT
David Clohessy 314-566-9790 SNAPclohessy@aol.com, Jayne O’Donnell 860-335-4259, Barbara Dorris 314-503-0003 SNAPdorris@gmail.com