FL- Victims applaud Florida child sex laws but want one addition

For immediate release: Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Statement by Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, Outreach Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 862 7688 home, 314 503 0003 cell, [email protected])

We're glad Florida lawmakers are toughening the state's child safety laws. We hope they will include a measure to create a new statewide database of adults who have been found guilty in civil trials of child sex crimes.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/F/FL_XGR_SEXUAL_PREDATORS_FLOL-?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=STATE&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-02-28-11-48-38 

The existing registry - for those criminally convicted - is good. But because many predators are shrewd and many police and prosecutors are overworked and under-funded, many child sex offenders are never criminally charged or convicted.

Some of them ARE found guilty, however, in civil trials. Legislators would make it easier for citizens and employers to know who these offenders are too. 

(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 15,000 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 (314-862-7688 home, 314-503-0003 cell, [email protected])


Showing 1 comment

SNAP Network is a GuideStar Gold Participant