KY--Victims urge outreach in priest porn case
For immediate release: Saturday, Aug. 15
Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 566 9790, [email protected], [email protected])
Louisville Catholic officials and church members face a simple but crucial question: Do you help law enforcement, or not, in a child porn investigation against a priest. We hope they find the courage to do what’s right and aggressively seek out anyone who might have seen, suspected or suffered child sex crimes by a just-suspended priest.
In a vague and disingenuously timed news release, Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz is announcing that Father Stephen A. Pohl is being temporarily removed from St. Margaret Mary Parish in Louisville because an FBI Task Force investigation “is underway about inappropriate photos of children that have been taken and collected by Father Pohl to determine if he has possessed or distributed child pornography.”
In our experience, in cases like this, Catholic officials do the bare minimum. Rarely do they use church websites, parish bulletins and pulpit announcements to prod victims, witnesses and whistleblowers to step forward. Rarely do they ask their flock to reach out to ex-parishioners who may have knowledge or suspicions of wrongdoing by Fr. Pohl. But those are the caring, responsible and moral steps they should take.
We urge anyone – Catholic or not – to call law enforcement if they have any information that might help prove or disprove these troubling allegations.
(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], [email protected]), Barbara Dorris (314-503-0003 cell, [email protected]), Barbara Blaine (312-399-4747, [email protected])
Lou. pastor on leave pending child porn investigation
Press Release 12:06 p.m. EDT August 15, 2015
LOUISVILLE, Ky (WHAS11) -- Parishioners at St. Margaret Mary Parish that attend the Saturday and Sunday Masses this weekend will be notified of an ongoing situation involving Father Stephen A. Pohl while those that do not attend will be informed via a letter from Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz.
According to a just released press release from the Archdiocese of Louisville, an FBI Task Force investigation is underway about inappropriate photos of children that have been taken and collected by Father Pohl to determine if he has possessed or distributed child pornography. At this time, the Archdiocese has . . .
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