WI--Victims ask WI archbishop to help re: “self-circumcised” predator

For immediate release: Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2015

Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those abused by Priests (314 566 9790, [email protected])

An ex-seminarian who reportedly tried to circumcise himself and was arrested in Wisconsin now admits he recently molested kids. We urge Milwaukee Catholic officials to publicize the abuser’s admission and aggressively reach out to anyone who may have seen, suspected or suffered his crimes in Wisconsin.

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2015/oct/26/coeur-dalene-man-jailed-on-1-million-bond-suspecte/

Kevin Sloniker was arrested in Menomonie WI and reportedly admitted to child sex crimes in Washington and Idaho. In 2005, he attended a Minnesota seminary but was allegedly removed.

For the safety of kids, and to help law enforcement, we call on Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki to use church websites, parish bulletins, pulpit announcements and personal appeals to reach out to others who may have seen, suspected or suffered crimes by Sloniker.

And we call on bishops in Idaho and Spokane, where Sloniker’s crimes happened, to use church websites, parish bulletins, pulpit announcements and personal appeals to reach out to others who may have seen, suspected or suffered crimes by Sloniker.

Sloniker was at Immaculate Conception Church in Post Falls, Idaho. He’s part of an arch-conservative Catholic group called the Society of St. Pius X. He’s not the first man with that group to face abuse allegations: http://www.snapnetwork.org/exclusive_after_us_sex_abuse_scandals_an_accused_priest_rises_again_in_paraguay

All too often, when church staff and volunteers are arrested on child sex charges, bishops do nothing. All too often, corrupt church officials refuse to act and thus essentially protect criminals and endanger children. And all too often, secular officials with the power and duty to safeguard society’s most vulnerable pursue only church staff who commit about and ignore church staff who conceal abuse.

Church members and employees in northern Idaho and eastern Washington – especially Idaho Bishop Peter F. Christensen and Spokane Bishop Thomas Daly - have a moral and civic duty to help law enforcement investigate and prosecute Sloniker. They’ll be tempted, of course, to do nothing. But that’s wrong. And their inaction might help enable Sloniker to exploit legal technicalities and escape punishment and hurt more kids.

And Minnesota Catholic officials will be tempted to do nothing about Sloniker. That too is wrong. Their inaction might well encourage other clerics to ignore or conceal known or suspected child sex crimes by their colleagues.

So we hope that anyone who saw, suspected or suffered Sloniker’s crimes will speak up, call police, protect kids, expose wrongdoers, deter cover ups and start healing. We hope Winona Catholic officials will try hard to find and h el other Sloniker victims in Minnesota.

And we hope that Idaho and Washington Catholic officials will ignore their defense lawyers, show real courage, and aggressively reach out to anyone with information or suspicions about Sloniker that might help law enforcement keep him away from kids for a long time.

(NOTE – Catholic officials will claim that Sloniker belongs to a “splinter” group that’s no longer officially part of the Roman Catholic church. We think that’s hair-splitting. If I have a rabid dog and he escapes, he’s still my responsibility. Just two months ago, the Pope granted this alleged splinter group more powers: http://ncronline.org/news/vatican/francis-announces-wide-indulgences-mercy-year-grants-lefebvrites-faculties)

(SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the world’s oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. SNAP was founded in 1988 and has 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], [email protected]), Barbara Dorris (314-503-0003 cell, [email protected]), Barbara Blaine (312-399-4747, [email protected]) 

Coeur d’Alene man jailed, suspected of raping and abusing underage boys

Scott Maben, The Spokesman-Review, October 26, 2015

A long-haul truck driver from Coeur d’Alene who also served as a church youth camp counselor is suspected of raping and abusing underage boys in Spokane and Kootenai counties over the past decade.

Kevin G. Sloniker, 30, faces felony charges of rape and lewd conduct involving two underage boys and is a suspect in the sexual abuse of at least eight other boys, according to court documents. He’s being held in the Kootenai County Jail on $1 million bond.

Sloniker met and befriended some of the boys in his role as a youth camp counselor . . . 

Read full article here