Letter to Massachusetts
Associate Justice Brassard

May 18, 2004

Honorable Raymond J. Brassard
Associate Justice of the Middlesex Superior Court
40 Thorndike Street
Cambridge, MA 02141

Honorable Raymond J. Brassard:

As leaders of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, we ask that you impose a just and appropriate sentence for the horrific crimes committed by Father Romano Ferraro. We make this request not to seek vengeance, but in order for justice to be served and to help ensure that children are protected. A just sentence will send a clear and powerful message to anyone who harms a child and insure that those who molest children will be held accountable.

Father Ferraro has admitted to leaving a trail of broken lives when he confessed to abusing mostly prepubescent boys in the parishes he served from New York to St. Louis, and as a Navy chaplain, over his 30 year career as a priest. Fr. Ferraro's age should not make a difference when sentencing him. Molesters will molest no matter their age, so being elderly does not make him less of a public safety risk to children. Further, Ferraro did not take age into consideration when he decided to sexually abuse underage children.

Father Ferraro has caused the children he abused to serve a lifetime sentence of pain. It is only fitting that he be given an equivalent sentence for his heinous crimes against innocent children. We implore you to see that justice is done by imposing the most stringent sentence possible for the crimes committed by Ferraro.

As children raised in the Catholic faith ourselves, we are acutely aware of the "power of the collar." It is this power that gives a priest access to children, and it is this power, when misused, that causes children to be most devastated by a deep spiritual betrayal of trust. Please do not allow yet another pedophile to evade justice. This may be the best and only way for child abusers everywhere to understand the extent of the damage done to children and they must be held accountable for their terrible crimes.

Sincerely,

David Clohessy of St. Louis, MO, SNAP National Director, (314) 566-9790 cell
David Cerulli of New York, NY, SNAP Board Member, (917) 757-1791 cell
William Gately of Boston, MA, SNAP Local Leader, (508) 743-0297, (508) 524-4179