MO-- Accused rapist politician sues alleged victim; SNAP responds
For immediate release: Friday, Oct. 28, 2016
Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 566 9790, 314 645 5915 home, [email protected])
A Missouri politician accused of rape is suing his accuser. That’s wrong and intimidating.
Steven Roberts II is suing Cora Faith Walker's claims. Both are legislators. She says he sexually assaulted her.
Roberts claims his lawsuit is “the only way . . . to show the facts.” That’s baloney. He could do exactly as Ms. Walker did, and talk with one or more journalists. But, according to the Post-Dispatch, Steve Roberts “declined to be interviewed.” That’s cowardly.
Who knows where the truth likes in all of this. But often, litigation like this is intended to silence other victims, witnesses and whistleblowers.
Sexual violence is rampant, underreported and often apt to be repeated. So we have a clear choice: we can make it easier or harder for people to report these crimes. Roberts is making it harder.
No matter what happens here, we urge every single person who saw, suspected or suffered rape or other sex crimes– especially by those in power – to protect others by calling police, get help by calling therapists, expose wrongdoers by calling attorneys, and be comforted by calling support groups like ours. This is how all of us will be safer and how 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])
Missouri House candidate sues over colleague's rape claims
ST. LOUIS (AP) — A Missouri House candidate is pressing a defamation lawsuit against another unopposed colleague who publicly accused him of sexual assault.
Steven Roberts II filed his lawsuit in St. Louis Circuit Court Thursday, two days after a special prosecutor declined to pursue charges in the case, saying the evidence . . .
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