Media Statements

(For Immediate Release November 8, 2022) 

Shocking news has come out of France as one of the Catholic Church’s highest-ranking members there has publicly admitted that he has sexually abused at least one child while he was a parish priest. This news is another blow to the French church’s moral authority and is a story that we hope will encourage other still-suffering victims to come forward and get help.

 According to reports the now-retired Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard, who had previously led the Archdiocese of Bordeaux, has admitted that he sexually abused a 14-year-old girl in the1990s. Additionally, 11 other bishops in France are being investigated on claims that they too sexually abused children. Clearly, the rot at the top of the French church is only beginning to be revealed.

While this sudden confession is shocking to many, we are not surprised by these revelations. When an independent report into sexual abuse in France was published, it estimated that as many as 216,000 children were victims of clergy sexual abuse and that at least 3,700 clergy and lay abusers worked in the French church. These numbers are massive and spoke to the fact that there must have been abusers at every level of the church for the problem to go unchecked for so long. Today’s news validates that assumption.

(****UPDATE*****ON MAY 8, 2023 Bishop Vetter issued a letter to parishioners informing them that Fr. Christofferson is cleared to return to public ministry and the review board did not find sufficient evidence) (For Immediate Release November 1, 2022) 

Father Kevin Christofferson was placed on administrative leave last week by the Diocese of Helena after being accused of abusing of a minor in 2001. Fr. Christofferson worked at Immaculate Conception in Polson, MT.

It is astonishing to us that Church officials routinely announce that a cleric’s placement on leave is not an admission of guilt. However, it would be more helpful if Bishop Austin Vetter would inform parishioners from Christofferson’s prior workplaces about the current allegations. This affirmative action would alert parishioners and the public. Statistics and experience routinely demonstrate that those who harm children seldom have just one victim.

According to Statistics Canada, Canada's national statistical office, there are 2 million people who have "disaffiliated" with the Catholic church. Given the string of scandals the church has faced in recent years, we are not shocked by these numbers.

From the latest round of revelations regarding abuse and murder at residential boarding schools to exposes of Canadian Church abuse cover-up, the issue of Catholic sex abuse has been much discussed in the past several years. The amplification of these horrors has no doubt been a leading factor in why Catholics in Canada are choosing to walk away from the church.  Simply put, the institution is a dangerous place for children and an increasing source of worry for parents.

Earlier this year, Pope Francis went to visit Canada to issue an apology for the historical abuse and neglect of Indigenous children at Catholic Church-run residential schools. But as these data show, a mere apology isn’t going to reverse the trend of Catholics leaving the church for safer pastures. If the church wants to stem the bleeding, they should join the chorus of voices pleading for a national-level investigation that will examine, from an independent and secular perspective, the true scope and context of clergy abuse in the nation. Until such an investigation is carried out, we expect more and more parents to join in this latest exodus.

CONTACT: Mike McDonnell, Communication Manager ([email protected], 267-261-0578), Zach Hiner, Executive Director ([email protected], 517-974-9009)

(SNAP, the Survivors Network, has been providing support for victims of sexual abuse in institutional settings for 30 years. We have more than 25,000 survivors and supporters in our network. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org) 

Once again, thanks to the intrepid work by Michigan’s Attorney General, we now know much more about the issue of clergy abuse within the state of Michigan. We are grateful to  A.G. Dana Nessel and her team for their transparency and for releasing a report that provides parents, parishioners, and the public with far more detail about the extent of clergy abuse in Marquette than had been provided by Catholic officials.

(For Immediate Release October 27, 2022) 

Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced criminal charges against four individuals in Pennsylvania, Jesse Hill, formerly of Berks County and now a resident of the state of Georgia, Jose Serrano of Lancaster County, Eric Eleam of Butler County, and Robert Ostrander, formerly of Cambria County and now a resident of New York, for the sexual assault and exploitation of children. In each case, all of the defendants’ victims were minors and members of Jehovah’s Witness congregations.

The details of these crimes are horrifying. Our hearts go out to the victims who bravely shared their truth, and we hope that they are receiving the support and professional assistance that they require. No child should ever experience the feeling of terror and fear, let alone sexual abuse.

 The 49th Investigating Grand Jury in Pennsylvania determined these charges and are brought by the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office to be prosecuted by Assistant Chief Deputy Attorney General Dan Dye. The investigation found that these men sexually exploited and abused 19 minors with whom they had direct contact, which included their own children in some cases.

AG Shapiro and his team have been steadfast warriors on the side of victims. The OAG investigations of sexual abuse in Pennsylvania have been one of the most successful in the country in securing convictions. We hope AG Shapiro’s track record of arresting over 500 child predators will inspire anyone who suffered sexual abuse in any institution or religious denomination, to come forward and make a report using the AG’s confidential hotline at 888-538-8541.

We hope that today's announcement serves as another warning to anyone thinking of harming a child or covering up abuse, that they will face serious consequences. Every Jehovah's Witness official who knew about, suspected of or shielded these heinous crimes should be fired and charged with failing to report potential child sex crimes to law enforcement. That is how we will deter such callous disregard in the future as a society.

CONTACT: Shaun Dougherty, SNAP Board President, (814-341-8386, [email protected]) Mike McDonnell, SNAP Communications Manager (267-261-0578, [email protected]), Zach Hiner, SNAP Executive Director (517-974-9009, [email protected])

(SNAP, the Survivors Network, has been providing support for victims of sexual abuse in institutional settings for 30 years. We have more than 25,000 survivors and supporters in our network. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)

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(For Immediate Release October 25, 2022)

After years of investigation, today New York’s highest law enforcement official settled a case against Catholic officials from Buffalo. We are disappointed in the lack of results from this settlement and hope that justice for survivors and accountability for enablers in Buffalo will still come.

According to statements from both A.G. Letitia James and Church officials from the Diocese of Buffalo, the settlement as agreed to does not result in any public disclosures of abusers or enablers does not involve any perpetrators facing trial and does not make any changes to the status quo that ease the effects of trauma in Buffalo survivors or make any children in Buffalo safer.

In practical terms, the settlement adds a new staffer to the hierarchy in Buffalo, a Child Protection Policy Coordinator. We are concerned that the person appointed to this role is someone who already works within the Diocese itself and would have greatly preferred to see a truly independent, non-church-related individual take over this office. Similarly, two previous bishops have been prevented from serving in roles with fiduciary responsibility, but, as pointed out by Catholic officials themselves, are not barred from serving in ministerial or pastoral roles. For two men who were accused of covering up decades of sex crimes against children, such a “punishment” does not even qualify as a slap on the wrist.

CONTACT: Judith Burns-Quinn, SNAP Leader, Buffalo NY, ( 716-826-4554 [email protected] ) Michael McDonnell, SNAP Communications Manager ([email protected], 267) 261-0578 ), Melanie Sakoda, SNAP Survivor Support Coordinator ([email protected], 925-708-6175), Zach Hiner, SNAP Executive Director ([email protected], 517-974-9009)

(SNAP, the Survivors Network, has been providing support for victims of sexual abuse in institutional settings for 30 years. We have more than 25,000 survivors and supporters in our network. Our website is www.SNAPnetwork.org) 

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(For Immediate Release October 24, 2022) 

In a talk he gave to Catholics in Arlington, Virginia, Philadelphia Archbishop Emeritus, Charles Chaput calls out United States president Joseph Biden as a liar and a hypocrite, weaponizing the sacraments along the way.

Who is the hypocrite and liar? Charles Chaput is part of a Capuchin province that is far from being the minority of abusive clerics in Guam. In Denver, while archbishop, Chaput wounded victims of sex abuse, note the case of Katia Birge, who was allegedly raped by a Catholic lay minister when she was 25. SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, chastised Chaput in the matter.

While in Denver, Chaput never published a list of abusers of his own order. His brother Capuchin, Cardinal Sean O'Malley, is from a Capuchin province that also has never published a list of abusers and who purports to be the lead cardinal for the US response to the Catholic sex abuse crisis. How can O'Malley lead anything when his own order is hiding its abusive clerics?

When he worked in Philadelphia, he let down more victims of abuse. In one case, and with cowardice, Chaput canceled a meeting with a victim once local media learned of the planned appointment. In an address to Ohio seminarians on March 27, 2019, Chaput blamed sexual abuse in the Catholic Church on "a trend of predatory homosexuality and a failure to remove it out of church life." 

In May 2016, the Pennsylvania Legislature was on track to move legislation that would eliminate civil and criminal statutes of limitations in cases of sexual abuse and provide a window of time for victims who were time-barred from civil action. As Archbishop of Philadelphia, Chaput corralled the diocesan priests to give them ‘pulpit tips’ to encourage parishioners to call their local state representatives to vote no on the proposed legislation. That bill never made it through the judiciary committee.

In our opinion, the archbishop should put down the bullhorn and the rocks until he has cleaned up his own glass house while in retirement and active on the speaking circuit. Because of Chaput's and O'Malley's hypocrisy and secrecy, President Biden and all other Catholics may be taking their sacraments from abusers.

CONTACT: Mike McDonnell, SNAP Communications Manager([email protected], 267-261-0578), Becky Ianni, Virginia SNAP Leader [email protected], 703-801-6044) Shaun Dougherty, SNAP Board President, ([email protected], 814-341-8386)

(SNAP, the Survivors Network, has been providing support for victims of sexual abuse in institutional settings for 30 years. We have more than 25,000 survivors and supporters in our network. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)

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 (For Immediate Release October 24, 2022)

(For Immediate Release October 20, 2022) 

The final report into the institutional responses to child sexual abuse in England and Wales has been released. This report is yet another example that child sexual abuse is a scourge that affects every institution in every country and requires the full power of the government in order to intervene, prevent abuse, and protect children.

This report is the outcome of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse which aimed to examine the actions – and failures – of a broad range of institutions and organizations. Combined with the contributions of thousands of Truth Project participants, this report provided the government with more knowledge that can be used to protect future generations of children.

To us, this report is more evidence that demonstrates widespread institutional abuse across a range of religions. So far, reports from countries like England, Australia, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, and various states in the United States have demonstrated that there are common threads between nations that have allowed institutional child sexual abuse to go unchecked, including a lack of oversight and accountability to a refusal by church leaders to admit that the problem is ongoing. We have no doubt that these same problems exist in the United States today.

We believe that it is beyond time for our federal government officials to demonstrate the same care for children that the above nations have demonstrated. We desperately need a federal-level inquiry into institutional child sexual abuse in order to fully comprehend the scope and depth of child sexual abuse in our country.

We won't be able to properly avoid future abuse and cover-up unless we show the same degree of interest in learning how abuse and cover-up function in our nation. America can take the initiative and be a leader in this problem, and we urge President Biden to conduct an executive investigation.

While the report lays bare critical facts that show how church officials protected and prevented prosecution it leads to a common theme we have seen globally, “depravity, abuse, and criminal conduct” was allowed to continue. We hope that others in the U.S. are as concerned as we are about this theme playing out across our nation and will join our call for oversight and accountability from the federal government.

CONTACT: Mike McDonnell, SNAP Communications Manager (267-261-0578, [email protected])  Zach Hiner, SNAP Executive Director (517-974-9009, [email protected]), Shaun Dougherty, SNAP Board President (814-341-8386 [email protected]) 

 (SNAP, the Survivors Network, has been providing support for victims of sexual abuse in institutional settings for 30 years. We have more than 25,000 survivors and supporters in our network. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)

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(For Immediate Release October 20, 2022)

We stand in solidarity with advocates who gathered today in the atrium of the state capitol in Columbus. Ohio has almost 2.5 million children. At this rate of abuse, there are roughly 330,000 victims or potential victims among the state's youth.

Lawmakers can adopt common sense legislation to prevent abuse (HB105) and bring healing and justice to survivors (HB266).  Beginning this week, Ohioans for Child Protection ask the public to devote one minute every day to protect children from sexual assault by calling their district representatives to support these bills.

This Hidden Predator Act (HB266) would allow victims to bring their abusers into Ohio’s courtrooms, and out of our neighborhoods where they could continue abuse into their geriatric years” said Teresa Dinwiddie Herrmann, Ohioans for Child Protection co-chair. 

To us it is clear and simple, the protection of children is always the right thing to do, thus it is a positive step that advocates demonstrate the need for reform.  Passing these bills so that those who enabled and covered up sex crimes can be exposed and held accountable makes for safer communities.

CONTACT: Mike McDonnell, SNAP Communications Manager (267-261-0578, [email protected]), Zach Hiner, Executive Director (517-974-9009, [email protected]) 

(SNAP, the Survivors Network, has been providing support for victims of sexual abuse in institutional settings for more than 30 years. We have more than 25,000 survivors and supporters in our network. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)

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