South Africa- Survivors group praises decisive action of law enforcement

For immediate release: Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314-566-9790, [email protected])

Police in Pretoria acted decisively when they arrested a local priest for acting inappropriately with a child. 

http://ewn.co.za/2014/02/18/Priest-accused-of-sexual-abuse-granted-bail

The family of the victim reported to police that the priest from the Archdiocese of Pretoria acted inappropriately with their child. The priest has since been barred from ministry while the investigation continues. Another pastor was arrested for possession of child pornography and has since appeared in court to answer for those charges.

We hope that any victims, witnesses, or whistleblowers will take courage from these arrests and speak up. Only through speaking up can we prevent other innocent children from being hurt. These arrests are an encouraging sign that the rights of children are moving to the forefront of public concern.

(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]), Barbara Blaine (312-399-4747,[email protected]), Peter Isely (414-429-7259, [email protected]), Joelle Casteix (949-322-7434, [email protected])

SNAP Network is a GuideStar Gold Participant