Sioux City Diocese cover up demonstrates need for state-wide investigation
For immediate release, November 7, 2018
For nearly 30 years, Sioux City bishops, including the current one, hid the fact that Father Jerome Coyle was an admitted pedophile. Yesterday, the Diocese asked for survivors to come forward.
SNAP has begged Church officials for decades to seek out other victims of know abusers. After putting innocent children at risk for decades, it seems to us that the Sioux City Diocese is only now asking people to come forward because parishioners and the public are appalled at what was concealed for so long.
Make no mistake, victims and witnesses should come forward. However, they should not report to the very Church officials who hid an abuser for all those years, as the Sioux City Diocese suggested. Reports of sexual abuse need to be made to the police or to child protection agencies, not the Church.
We note that there is a December 6th meeting scheduled between the Sioux City Diocese and the Iowa Attorney General. We feel strongly that this must be followed by a state-wide investigation that has subpoena powers, and that also offers survivors an opportunity to share their truths. Nineteen other states have instituted such a probe.
We hope that in the light of the egregious cover up in Sioux City that every Iowan who has not already done so will write to their Attorney General and request just such a state-wide investigation.
Too many children have already suffered.
(SNAP, the Survivors Network, has been providing support for victims of sexual abuse in institutional settings for 30 years. We have more than 25,000 survivors and supporters in our network. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)
CONTACT: Tim Lennon, President, 415-312-5820, [email protected], (survivor of rape and sexual abuse by Sioux City priest); Zach Hiner, Executive Director, 517-974-9009, [email protected]
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