Five publicly accused priests left off new list

Five publicly accused priests left off new list

One is being sued now; one has been convicted

Abuse victims blasts Hartford Catholic officials

Group begs victims to report to law enforcement

It urges “witnesses, whistleblowers” to “speak up now”

WHAT

Holding signs and childhood photos at a sidewalk news conference, clergy sex abuse victims and their supporters will disclose the names and histories of five publicly accused child molesting clerics who were in the Hartford Catholic archdiocese but were left off a just-posted list of such men.

They will also call on Connecticut’s top Catholic officials to

--explain their omission of the five names,

--add the five to the archdiocese’s “credibly accused” list,

--give more details about each one of the "credibly accused" abusers that have already been identified, especially their photos and current whereabouts, assignment history, dates each known allegation was reported, and date of removal from ministry, and

--aggressively reach out to victims, witnesses and whistle blowers, urging them to contact local law enforcement to report known and suspected wrongdoing immediately.

WHEN

Wednesday, Jan. 23 at 1:15 p.m.

WHERE

On the sidewalk outside the Cathedral of ___ ADDRESS in Hartford CT

WHO

Three victims and advocates who belong to a support group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, including a ­­­__CITY woman who is the group's volunteer Connecitcut leader

WHY

Yesterday, Hartford Archbishop Leonard Blair released the names of 48 local clerics who are "credibly accused" of molesting kids. However, at least six clerics who have been publicly accused child molestation were omitted. The men are Fr. Donal Collins, Fr. Cornelius T. “Neil” Otero, Br. Thomas Sawyer, Fr. Michael Benedict Taylor, Fr. Enrique Vasquez and Fr. Walter A. Vichas.

--Collins, who faces at least 20 accusers, was first accused in 1966, was sent for treatment in Hartford CT in 1993, was convicted in 1998 of sexually abusing several boys at St. Peter's College seminary in Ireland, released in 1999, laicized in 2004 and died in 2010. He also worked in an unknown parish in Florida in 1990s and at least one lawsuit waas settled against him in 2000.

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news5/2004_12_17_Pogatchnik_PopeDefrocks.htm

--Sawyer was a teacher in schools across the US, including Holy Cross High School in Waterbury. He was living at St. John Vianney in West Hartford when another clergy member reported to police he saw images of naked children on Sawyer's computer. His religious order, the Congregation of Holy Cross, moved Sawyer to Valatie NY when the police investigation started. In 2016, he was arrested and charged with possession of child pornography. According to media sources and BishopAccountability, Sawyer may have downloaded thousands of photos of naked kids.

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2016/03_04/2016_04_14_Terzi_CatholicClergy.htm

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2016/03_04/2016_04_15_Scheinblum_ChurchBrother.htm

--Vasquez was charged in Costa Rica with abusing a child in 1994 and fled to Connecticut. He worked in both New York and Hartford and has been a fugitive since 1998. A Costa Rican court convicted him in 2005 in absentia and sentenced him to 12 years in prison. He was finally arrested 2007 in Honduras under a warrant from Interpol.

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2007/03_04/2007_04_19_AP_HonduranPolice.htm

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2007/03_04/2007_04_17_Sipe_InternationalTraffic.htm

--Otero was accused publicly in 8/18 of the sexual abuse of a 10 or 11-year-old boy in the summer of 1977 or '78 when the boy attended a summer camp in Jackson Heights NY. The abuse reportedly included forced oral copulation, ordering the boy to strip and photographing him naked. Otero was arrested in 1979 for selling child porn; he avoided jail by helping the NYPD as an informant. In 1988, he was transferred to Hartford  where he worked at St. Francis Hospital until 1995. He died in 1998. Last October in New York, a lawsuit was filed naming him as an abuser. His alleged victim is represented by St. Paul MN attorney Jeff Anderson (651 227 9990 office, 612 817 8665 cell, [email protected])

https://nypost.com/2018/08/25/alleged-abuse-victim-rejects-200k-payout-from-church-demands-justice/

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2018/11_12/2018_10_31_DominguezLopez_BrooklynDiocese.htm

--Taylor is a former monk and teacher at all-girls Catholic school in Connecticut who resigned after it was revealed that he was "defrocked" for allegedly molesting boys in Trinidad in 1997. He was principal of a school in Trinidad but quit in 1997 after several alleged victims came forward. More of his victims came forward in 2002.

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news3/2002_06_06_Leo_ExMonkResigns_Michael_Benedict_Taylor_2.htm

--Vichas was accused in a November 2018 civil lawsuit of sexually abusing a ten year old altar boy in 1979-80, at Blessed Sacrament in Waterbury. Vichas' assignments included St. Joseph's in Waterbury 1952-64, St. Casimir's in New Haven 1964-65, St. Patrick's in Enfield 1965-71, and Blessed Sacrament 1971-2001. Vichas retired in 2001 and died in 2008.His alleged victim is represented by New Haven attorney Tom McNamara (203 782 9241, [email protected])

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2018/11_12/2018_11_07_Jonathan_Republican-American_Lawsuit_Waterbury.htm

Church officials may claim these priests weren't ordained here, weren't officially working here, didn't ever officially work here or aren't found in their records. SNAP doubt these claims and believes they are irrelevant. Child rape or assault is equally devastating no matter where the predator was hired or who signs his paycheck, the group says, and the "not in our records" excuse is even more irrelevant. The documents proving these priests were in the Hartford area are court records that were obtained through subpoenas and other legal moves from church officials themselves.

What matters is not why they were in Connecticut, or for how long, SNAP says, because it takes just seconds for a man to shove his hands down a child's pants or his tongue in a child's mouth. What matters is that they were here, may have hurt local kids, and McKnight has a duty to seek out and help any of their victims.

Collins, Otero and Vichas are deceased. Photos of Sawyer, Otero and Vichas, along with more information about all the men, are available at BishopAccountability.org

CONTACT

David Clohessy, St. Louis volunteer SNAP director, 314 566 9790, [email protected]