NJ- Basketball coach charged with child sexual abuse, SNAP responds
For immediate release: Thursday, May 29, 2014
Statement by Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, Outreach Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314-503-0003, [email protected])
A former New Jersey youth basketball coach and school administrator was charged with child sexual abuse. The Newark Archdiocese has vowed to cooperate. We hope that is true and we hope the Archdiocese provides outreach to victims.
John Mercado was a longtime youth sports coach and he worked at three different schools. We want Catholic officials to be open and honest with the public about where Mercado worked.
Archbishop John Myers should visit every parish Mercado worked and beg anyone who saw, suspected, or suffered child sex crimes to come forward and report to secular officials.
(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 18,000 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, [email protected]), Barbara Blaine (312-399-4747, [email protected])
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