MI- Archdiocese finds priest guilty of negligence, SNAP responds

For immediate release: Tuesday, September 02, 2014

Statement by Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, Outreach Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 503 0003, SNAPdorris@gmail.com)

A Michigan priest has been found to have been negligent when he did not report a child sex crime to police. We are glad the archdiocese found him guilty, but believe they should do more to reprimand the priest and take additional measures to ensure it does not happen again. 

Fr. Michael Cooney did not properly notify police when a 14 year old girl was sexually abused by an usher on church property. We are glad the archdiocese publically announced that they found him negligent, but he should face a harsher punishment than requiring him to make a retreat and write letters of apology.

Children are safest when those who commit and those who conceal child sex crimes are held accountable and punished. We hope anyone who saw, suspects, or suffered child sex crimes will find the courage to speak up, call police, and start healing.

(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 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])


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