GA--Victims want Catholic official fired in abuse case

For immediate release: Thursday, May 26, 2016

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

Atlanta Catholics and Holy Spirit Preparatory families deserve more information about allegations against Fr. Thomas Aloysius Flynn of the controversial Legion of Christ religious order. And Archbishop Wilton Gregory and the school’s board should fire the headmaster who refused to call police about suspected child sexual abuse.

http://www.cbs46.com/story/32066084/catholic-school-priest-fired-but-no-charges-filed-after-alleged-abuse

Headmaster Kyle Pietrantonio allegedly followed church protocol. But he didn’t call 911. No matter what one’s employer requires in such cases, every caring adult should immediately call police when child sex crimes are reported or suspected.

Gregory should send a strong signal to his staff and flock by firing Pietrantonio.

No matter what church officials do or don’t do, we urge every single person who saw, suspected or suffered child sex crimes and cover ups in Catholic churches or institutions to protect kids by calling police, get help by calling therapists, expose wrongdoers by calling law enforcement, get justice by calling attorneys, and be comforted by calling support groups like ours. This is how kids will be safer, adults will recover, criminals will be prosecuted, cover ups will be deterred and the truth will surface.

(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]), Barbara Dorris (314-503-0003 cell, [email protected]), Barbara Blaine (312-399-4747,[email protected])

 

Catholic school priest fired, but no charges filed after alleged abuse

Posted: May 25, 2016 4:49 PM CDT - Updated: May 25, 2016 10:33 PM CDT

By Jonathan Andrews, Digital Manager

ATLANTA (CBS46) - Parents of students at an Atlanta Catholic school are outraged after they say the school's headmaster failed to notify police of alleged abuse of a young girl.

Witnesses reported "inappropriate touching" of a fourth-grade girl by Father Thomas Aloysius Flynn, to police in April. But according to parents, the school didn’t.

Now, Holy Spirit Preparatory School, an exclusive Catholic prep school to nearly 600 students in northwest Atlanta, is doing  . . .

Read full article here


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