WA- Predator ex-priest dies, SNAP responds

For immediate release: Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Statement by Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, Outreach Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 503 0003, SNAPdorris@gmail.com)

A priest and the former director of seminarians for the Seattle Archdiocese has died. We hope he is not given a burial of a priest in good standing.

As the head of seminarians for the Seattle Archdiocese, Fr. David Jaeger, let a known abuser, Fr. Paul Joseph Conn, perform duties as a priest. Jaeger himself is an admitted child molester, having acknowledged abusing 8-10 boys. He was voluntarily defrocked in 2005.

We hope his victims find peace from his death. We are glad that he can no longer hurt any more children And we hope Catholic officials do not callously rub salt into the wounds of victims by giving Jaeger a large and pomp-filled funeral.

(SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the world’s oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. We’ve been around for 25 years and have more than 20,000 members. 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, [email protected]), Barbara Dorris (314-503-0003 cell, [email protected]), Barbara Blaine (312-399-4747, [email protected])


Showing 4 comments

  • Sean Taeschner
    commented 2014-07-30 02:45:04 -0500
    This is precisely why I did not attend his funeral viewing tonight, nor his funeral tomorrow.
  • John M Shuster
    commented 2014-07-29 16:03:04 -0500
    David Jaeger used his position and power as a priest of the Archdiocese of Seattle to sexually abuse many children. In doing so, he shredded their young lives and laid heavy psychological burdens upon them that they will deal with until they die. David Jaeger may have forgotten his victims, but they will remember his predatory lust and the lasting damage he did to them and their families for the rest of their lives.
  • John M Shuster
    commented 2014-07-29 16:03:00 -0500
    David Jaeger used his position and power as a priest of the Archdiocese of Seattle to sexually abuse many children. In doing so, he shredded their young lives and laid heavy psychological burdens upon them that they will deal with until they die. David Jaeger may have forgotten his victims, but they will remember his predatory lust and the lasting damage he did to them and their families for the rest of their lives.
  • @ tweeted this page. 2014-07-29 13:35:38 -0500

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