NY--Second abuse case filed vs. priest still on the job
For immediate release: Tuesday, April 26, 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])
Long Island’s Catholic bishop must suspend a priest who now faces two pending child sex abuse lawsuits. Or other church officials must discipline and denounce him for his recklessness.
Today, a second civil case has been filed charging that Fr. Gregory Yacyshyn molested a second child a few years ago.
http://www.snapnetwork.org/ny_new_lawsuit_says_accused_predator_priest_is_in_long_island_parish_now
We know of just one other priest – Fr. Alex Anderson of St. Louis - who is still in a parish despite multiple accusers. (Three men say he molested them but only one has sued, however.)
http://www.snapnetwork.org/usa_accused_predator_priests_still_on_the_job
However, we have learned recently that two US priests who are convicted sex offenders are being put back on the job – Fr. Joseph Jeyapaul and Fr. Jose Alexis Davila.
http://theworthyadversary.com/4206-convicted-sex-offender-priest-resurfaces-in-oklahoma
http://kfor.com/2016/04/23/priest-convicted-of-sex-crime-finds-home-in-lawton-parish/
Bishop Murphy was one of disgraced Boston Cardinal Bernard Law’s top deputies. He’s acting just like his mentor. Again, for the safety of kids, at a bare minimum, Murphy should suspend Fr. Greg and aggressively seek out others he may have hurt.
Are false allegations against priests possible? Sure. Are both of these accusers wrong? Nope.
But we urge parishioners to check out independent sources, like BishopAccountability.org, which finds that "Fewer than 2 percent of sexual abuse allegations against the Catholic church appear to be false" and the dean of a Catholic law school who said that he had defended Catholic dioceses against more than 500 sexual-abuse lawsuits in more than 500 cases and had concluded that 'fewer than 10' of those cases were based on false accusations."
A 2004 report commissioned by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and written by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice which analyzed 5,681 diocesan investigations of abuse allegations in 1950-2002 and concluded that 1.5% were deemed false.
Even Catholic officials admit this. The first head of the Office for Child and Youth Protection of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has summarized the findings on false allegations: "False reporting of sexual abuse by children is very rare."
http://www.bishop-accountability.org/AtAGlance/data.htm#falseallegations
We applaud the brave youngsters who are exposing a dangerous priest and his complicit colleagues. We hope others who saw, suspected or suffered clergy sex crimes or cove ups on Long Island will step forward and call independent sources of help, like police, prosecutors, therapists or support groups like ours.
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]), Barbara Blaine (312-399-4747,[email protected])
Lawsuit says Catholic priest sexually abused Long Island man
Diocese: First sex abuse unfounded, will address claims ‘vigorously’ in court
The Rev. Gregory Yacyshyn remains active in ministry, diocese says
By Bart Jones [email protected], April 26, 2016 2:35 PM
A Long Island man said Tuesday he was sexually abused as a boy by a Roman Catholic priest — the second case brought against the priest since last year.
The Diocese of Rockville Centre, which has not removed the Rev. Gregory Yacyshyn from active ministry, said it “intends to address the claims vigorously in a court of law.”
The first case last year was filed by a 20-year-old woman, and is still . . .
Winter Appeal 2023
To our friends,
2023 has been a long year with many ups and downs for us all. As we close out the year, we at SNAP hope that you are feeling like you are on your way to being healthy, fulfilled, and happy. This past year has brought both successes and challenges. Thanks to the support you have shown in the past, we’ve been able to celebrate the good days and weather the stormy ones. Now, we are once again asking for your support as we work to support survivors new and old as we ‘Move SNAP Forward.’
At SNAP we are proud to have hosted a very well-attended conference in August 2023. This event allowed us to gather friends, survivors, advocates, and allies for a weekend of camaraderie and connection. We were so happy to be able to welcome many first-time attendees to gather in person and are already looking forward to the next conference.
To strengthen our movement for justice, healing, and prevention, SNAP will be expanding our peer support and providing more volunteer opportunities in the coming year. Through this great work, we are ensuring survivor voices are represented as we work for significant change that will benefit children and survivors.
Right now, survivors worldwide are getting the help they need from SNAP, and more and more reach out to us daily, but we need your help to keep those programs going and get our volunteers the training they need to thrive.
Your tax-deductible gift to SNAP can help offset the cost of our important mission. If you are not in a position to contribute, you can still support us by sharing this letter with those who can. As we continue to fight for survivors across the globe, your donation or sharing the great work SNAP does will help us continue our work to protect the vulnerable, heal the wounded, and prevent abuse.
Your donation ensures SNAP will be there for those who need us more than ever!
Warmly,
Michael W. McDonnell, C.P.S.
Interim Executive Director
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