Ex-Columbia serial predator priest to stay in jail; Victims applaud new ruling
An admitted serial predator priest who worked in Columbia lost his bid for a bond reduction yesterday and will remain jailed in St. Louis County facing more child sex abuse charges.
We are grateful to the two brave Missouri men who are working with prosecutors to keep Fr. Fred Lenczycki away from kids, and to the judge who refused to reduce this admitted predator's bond today.
We hope this news will prod others who saw, suspected or suffered Fr. Lenczycki's crimes to come forward. We firmly believe others he hurt are still suffering in shame, silence and self-blame.
The state of Illinois deemed Lenczycki a sexually violent predator, so we hope Missouri officials will continue to do all they can to keep him locked up. And we hope Catholic officials in California will aggressively reach out to anyone he hurt there.
Contact: David Clohessy, SNAP Missouri Director (314-566-9790, [email protected])
(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)