IL- Priest sued for abuse for 3rd time in 3 years

For immediate release: Wednesday, Jan. 7 2014

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

A priest who lives in Missouri has just been sued for allegedly molesting a boy in suburban Chicago. We call on the archbishops of Chicago and St. Louis to warn their flock about the credibly accused serial predator.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/downers-grove-darien-westmont-woodridge/ct-joliet-priest-abuse-suit-met-0107-20150107-story.html

Fr. Lawrence “Larry” M. Gibbs has been called the Joliet Catholic diocese’s most notorious pedophile priest. The Chicago Tribune reports that Fr. Gibbs has been named as a defendant in a clergy sex abuse and cover up lawsuit just filed by Stan Lewandowski. We applaud Lewandowski for his courage in helping to prevent child sex crimes by Fr. Gibbs.

We hope every single person who saw, suspected or suffered Fr. Gibbs crimes will contact police, get help, expose wrongdoers, protect kids and start healing. This is the third time in three years Fr. Gibbs has been sued for alleged abuse.

And we hope every single Catholic employee in the Chicago and St. Louis areas – from archbishop to assistant custodian – warn parents, parishioners and the public about Fr. Gibbs’ past so that kids will be safer.

A photo of Fr. Gibbs can be found on BishopAccountability.org.

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


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