Tuesday, April 1, 2008

SNAP responds to Missouri Court ruling

Statement by Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, Outreach Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 862 7688 home, 314 503 0003 cell)

Our hearts ache for Bob. He's been betrayed first by a trusted Catholic cleric, then by church officials, and now by the courts. We admire him for his courageous efforts to expose a dangerous predator and his corrupt supervisors. We hope that others who've been hurt by Mueller will now step forward and do their part to warn others about this molester and hold his duplicitious church bosses accountable. We also hope that other Mueller victims will call police and prosecutors and help get this serial sex offender arrested, charged and jailed, so that kids will be safer.
This is such a bizarre case - a predator using ether to knock out a victim and a knife to threaten him - that we doubt this ruling will have broader impact. Child molestation almost happens slowly, seductively, and under the guise of affection, not suddenly, violently and sadistically, like many of Mueller's crimes.

Still, it's a terrible injustice to Bob, and again, we feel very sad for awful setback to him. And it's very discouraging every time a child molester successfully exploits predator-friendly legal loopholes and technicalities. We hope lawmakers in Missouri, like their colleagues across the country, will be motivated by this injustice to reform archaic statutes of limitations that protect predators and jeopardize kids.

(SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the nation’s oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. We’ve been around for 17 years and have more than 7,000 members across the country. 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, 314-645-5915 home), Barbara Blaine (312-399-4747), Barbara Dorris (314-862-7688)

Missouri Court ruling