Victims applaud WV attorney general

Victims applaud WV attorney general

They prod others with info to ‘step forward’

Group seeks “witnesses & whistleblowers to help AG

SNAP also ‘outs’ 3 accused priests ‘under the radar’ in WV

WHAT

Holding signs and childhood photos a at a sidewalk news conference, clergy sex abuse victims and their supporters will 

---praise the WV AG for his recent civil suit on behalf of Catholic families and against the Catholic hierarchy, and

---prod the AG to work harder to bring victims, witnesses and whistleblowers forward, using his bully pulpit and public service announcements. 

They will also:

--reveal the identities of 3 accused priests who are/were in WV but have escaped virtually all scrutiny or attention here, and 

--challenge local Catholic officials to disclose the names of ALL alleged predator priests, along with their photos, whereabouts and full work histories.

WHEN

Thursday, March 21 at 1:00 p.m.

WHERE

On the sidewalk outside Cathedral of St Joseph, 1300 Eoff St ( corner of 13th St.) in Wheeling, WV.

WHO

Two-three members of a support group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPnetwork.org), including a Missouri woman who is the organization’s Midwest director

WHY

1) SNAP stresses that “a charge is not a conviction” so “it’s crucial that anyone with information or suspicions about clergy sex crimes or cover ups call local law enforcement and the attorney general as soon as possible.”

The group is praising WV Attorney General Patrick Morrisey and says “the time for deference to church officials by police and prosecutors and judges is – or should be – long past.”

https://www.wtrf.com/news/west-virginia-headlines/west-virginia-ag-files-lawsuit-against-wheeling-charleston-diocese/1860271145

2) SNAP has also discovered and is disclosing three publicly accused predator priests who spent time in West Virginia but are NOT on the diocese’s ‘accused list’ and who have largely escaped public attention in the state. They are:

---Fr. Robert Cullen, who faced “multiple allegations of sexual abuse,” according to his Jesuit supervisors. From 1982 – 1983, he was at Central Catholic High School and from 1983 – 1990, he was at Wheeling Jesuit College, both in Wheeling. He is deceased.

http://image.jesuits.org/MARPROV/media/12.17.18_Report.3.pdf

---Fr. Francis C. Bourbon, who died in 2007 and worked in Virginia, Maryland, North -Carolina, Louisiana, Pennsylvania and Washington, DC. His West Virginia assignments included Wheeling Jesuit University (Wheeling), from 1993 – 1994 at St. Paul’s Church (Weirton) from 1994 – 1996 at Nativity of Our Lord Church (Wayne) and from 1996 – 2003 again at Wheeling Jesuit University (Wheeling). The Jesuits say he faced a “Single allegation of unwanted kiss.” 

http://image.jesuits.org/MARPROV/media/12.17.18_Report_2.pdf

---Fr. Jack Hoehl, a Pittsburgh PA priest who was defrocked for abusing kids but then moved to West Virginia and became a psychological counselor in Weirton. He was also mentioned in the Pennsylvania grand jury report of 2018, which says “In 2004, an adult male informed the Diocese that he was sexually abused by Hoehl when he was 16 years old and in his sophomore year at Quigley. He stated that in April, 1978, he was outside of the school building when a friend came out to tell him that a girl (hereinafter referred to "Jane Doe") was in trouble in Hoehl' s office. The two boys ran into the office where they saw her. She was naked from the waist down. She was being held down by an older student and Hoehl was about to rape her. The boys helped Jane Doe retrieve her clothes and wanted to get her out of the office as quickly as possible. Hoehl told them that he would release Jane Doe if they stayed behind to take her place. They agreed and Jane Doe was released. Hoehl locked the office on both sides. He then sodomized both boys.”

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/PA_40th_GJ/Cases_and_Profiles/2018_08_14_PA_GJ_Priests_Pittsburgh_25_Hoehl.pdf 

One of his alleged victims later died by suicide. He left the active priesthood in 1988, faced civil suits in 2001 and 2003-04 and was laicized in 2004. In 2007,  he had to surrender his therapy license and that same year, 32 alleged victims settled with the Pittsburgh diocese. He was sued again three times last year.

http://bishop-accountability.org/priestdb/PriestDBbylastName-H.html 

SNAP wants all three added to the WV diocesan ‘accused’ list. For the safety of kids and the healing of victims, they also want that list expanded to include photos, whereabouts and full work histories of the accused.

BACKGROUND: The West Virginia diocese lists these 18 clerics as ‘credibly accused of abuse in WV’ - Rev. Carl E. Bauer, Rev. Eugene R. Bowski, Rev. Lawrence (Larry) D. Brown, Rev. William Carr Princeton, Rev. James Joseph, Rev. Patrick Condon, Rev. Victor Frobas, Bro. Rogers Hannan, Rev. Patrick J. MacSweeney, Rev. Charles E. McCallister, Rev. Felix Owino, Rev. David A. Pichette, Rev. Robert J. Rooney, Rev. Francis Roscetti, Rev. Richard Schaefer, Rev. Paul J. Schwarten, Rev. Charles Tague, S.T. and Rev. Stanley Tuchalski.

It lists these 13 clerics as ‘credibly accused of abuse elsewhere but not in WV’ - Rev. Franklyn W. Becker, Rev. James Biene, Rev. Louis Bonacci, Rev. Martin D. Brady, Rev. Charles Demblowski, Rev. Phillip Gage, Rev. Gerard J. Guli, Rev. Reginald Krakovsky, Rev. Raymond Lukac, Rev. Francis McCaa, Rev. Robert  Poandl, Rev. Raymond Waldruff,  and Rev. Adalbert Wolski.

CONTACT: Judy Jones, SNAP Midwest Regional Leader, (636-433-2511, [email protected]),  Zach Hiner, Executive Director ([email protected] , 517-974-9009)

(SNAP, the Survivors Network, has been providing support for victims of sexual abuse in institutional settings for 30 years. We have more than 25,000 survivors and supporters in our network. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)