OR- Pedophile priest lawsuit filed; SNAP responds

For immediate release: Wednesday, June 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]) 

Another clergy sex abuse and cover up lawsuit has been filed against the Portland Catholic archdiocese stemming from crimes by a notorious serial predator, Fr. Maurice Grammond.

http://koin.com/2014/06/24/sexual-abuse-victim-sues-archdiocese-of-portland-for-8-1-m/

We applaud this brave man for exposing incredibly irresponsible actions by several top Catholic officials who repeatedly refused to tell police, parents or parishioners about a clearly dangerous child molesting cleric.

It's very tough for child sex abuse victims to disclose their suffering. It's even harder for them to seek justice and expose wrongdoing in court. But it's crucial if kids are to be safer and crimes are to be prevented.

We hope that families will learn of this lawsuit and discuss 'safe touch' with their kids. We hope that employers will learn of it and work harder to screen potential employees and respond quicker and better when abuse reports are made or abuse suspicions are raised. 

Most of all, we hope that this courageous man's lawsuit will prod others who have been betrayed by child molesting clerics and irresponsible church supervisors to step forward, get help, expose wrongdoers, deter wrongdoing, protect kids and start healing.

(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 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])

 


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