OH- Victims applaud Cuyahoga judge
For immediate release: Monday, August 25, 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 Cleveland judge has denied defense lawyers request that a priest, Fr. James McGonegal, be allowed into an alternate sentence program. We applaud this move. Citizens are safest when predators are locked up.
It seems to us that Catholic officials – both those who commit and those who conceal sex crimes – often attempt to avoid justice through legal technicalities. That diminishes the faith that many have in our justice system and discourages them from reporting more crimes. That, in turn, makes vulnerable adults and innocent children more apt to be sexually violated in the future.
We hope as this case goes to trial that anyone else who may have been hurt by or witnessed crimes committed by McGonegal will come forward and report what they know.
(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])
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