TX- Admitted predator priest now has 2 jobs; SNAP responds

For immediate release: Tuesday, July 29, 2014

For more information: David Clohessy of St. Louis (314-566-9790, [email protected])

Priest who pled guilty is back on the job

Dallas bishop quietly transferred him to new posts 

Just three years ago, he admitted to “inappropriate touching” 

But some allegations against the cleric go back almost 40 years

The Catholic bishop of Dallas has quietly put back on the job a priest who pleaded no contest three years ago to misdemeanor assault charges for inappropriately touching of a 14-year-old girl, a support group has learned.

Leaders of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, say that Fr. Robert Crisp now does prison ministry, according to the Dallas diocese webpage.

They also say that a concerned Catholic informed them that Fr. Crisp also ministers at St. Joseph Village, a retirement home, in Coppell (1201 E. Sandy Lake Road) 

(To confirm the latter, SNAP urges reporters to call Fr. Crisp's private line: 972-879-8474 or the home: 972-304-0300.) 

“Bishop Kevin Farrell should be ashamed of himself,” said David Clohessy of St. Louis, SNAP’s director. “He's apparently given not one but two job assignments to a convicted sex offender, directly contradicting the so-called 'zero tolerance' promise he and his brother bishops have bragged about for years.” 

“It's ironic that in the very city where America's bishops solemnly and repeatedly pledged 'one strike and you're out', Bishop Farrell secretly puts an admitted child molester back around unsuspecting Catholics,” said Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, SNAP's outreach director. “How many grandkids visit relatives at this facility? And is Fr. Crisp being allowed to work in parishes too?”

“For decades, bishops have done what Farrell is now doing: moving a proven predator to another job and claiming that somehow a child predator won't gain access to kids in this position or that position,” Dorris stressed. “But there's a reason civilized societies jail molesters: because unless we do, they'll find a way to win parents' trust and abuse children again, no matter what job title or position they may be given.”

In 2010, Mary O'Dell told the Dallas Morning News that Fr. Crisp had molested her 35 years earlier. Others who say Fr. Crisp molested them include Sarah Carzoli and Vicki Moo.

Also in 2010, Bishop Farrell said, through a spokesperson, that he “has no plans to reassign Crisp,” the DMN reported.

Fr. Crisp's photo is available at BishopAccountability.org

(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 (314-862-7688 home, 314-503-0003 cell, [email protected])