NY- Round Lake priest arrested, SNAP responds

For immediate release: Wednesday, April 23, 2014

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

A Round Lake priest was arrested for inappropriate conduct with a minor. We are grateful this predator is being held accountable, but worried that he has been released. Even though there is an order of protection for the victim, there could be more victims who have not yet come forward. 

http://www.troyrecord.com/general-news/20140423/police-arrest-catholic-priest-30-who-served-at-round-lake-church 

We hope, although it is unlikely, that this was an isolated incidence. Predators rarely attack only once. Fr. James Michael Taylor was a deacon and youth minister for the Corpus Christi Church during the alleged abuse and is now an ordained priest at Saint Kateri Tekakwitha Parish in Schenectady.

Church officials should aggressively seek out any other people who may have been hurt. Bishop Edward Scharfenberger should personally go to each parish where Fr. Taylor worked and beg victims, witnesses and whistleblowers to speak up and call police.

We hope that anyone who saw suspected or suffered abuse will contact law enforcement. 

(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 15,000 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 (314-862-7688 home, 314-503-0003 cell, [email protected])


Showing 3 comments

  • steve oc
    commented 2014-04-23 17:22:55 -0500
    Don’t they do background checks on these people? My church does background checks on all members and requires them to take sex abuse classes. Anyone with a record of abuse is kicked out.
  • Daniel O'Connor
    commented 2014-04-23 13:32:49 -0500
    And what exactly is criminal about physical contact (e.g. a hug), telephone calls, texts, and photos with a teenager? How about we all withhold judgment here until more information is known?
  • @ tweeted this page. 2014-04-23 11:18:23 -0500

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