MN--Victims blast MN prosecutor about accused priest

For immediate release: Friday, Oct. 7, 2016

Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 566 9790, [email protected])

Our hearts ache for the five kids and their families who have helped police and prosecutors pursue an accused child molesting cleric, Fr. Brian Lederer. They must be terribly distraught that he’s escaped prosecution on all charges.

For the safety of kids, we call on local police and prosecutors to use their ‘bully pulpits’ to prod others with information or suspicions about Fr. Lederer’s crimes to speak up now.

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/4130255-final-charge-dropped-against-hibbing-priest

We’re disappointed that the prosecutor hasn’t been more aggressive and creative. If he thinks somehow that Minnesota law is deficient, he should be pushing lawmakers hard to remedy any deficiencies. But we suspect the real problem here is a lack of courage, not a lack of appropriate statues.

We hope more who were victimized by Fr. Lederer come forward so that he might face more charges and eventually be kept away from kids.

http://www.grandforksherald.com/news/crime-and-courts/4058366-minnesota-priest-found-not-guilty-sexual-abuse-case

Often, predatory preachers, ministers and rabbis get top notch defense lawyers and exploit legal technicalities and get off scot-free. The best remedy in these tragic cases is for others with information or suspicions about the offender to summon up some strength and call law enforcement. We hope that happens here.

No matter what lawmakers or 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])