Victim Survivors and Advocates Applaud Maryland Attorney General Report and Passage of Child Victims Act

(Media Advisory for April 7, 2023) 

• Victims applaud the release of the Maryland Attorney General Report
• They also announce the passage of the Child Victim’s Act (CVA)
• Demand that the Church add the 30 new names in the AG to their list and stop using hair-splitting distinctions to avoid being transparent
• Demand that the Church provide the assignment history, last known location, and employment of perpetrators listed in the AG report
• Demand that the Church stop fighting the constitutionality of the CVA

WHAT: Holding signs and childhood photos at a sidewalk news conference, clergy sex abuse victims and their supporters will announce the passage of the CVA along with the release of the scathing Attorney General report.  ,

-- Demand that the Archdiocese explain their recklessness and continued secrecy in not listing the 30 newly named perpetrators.

-- Celebrate the passage of the CVA and look forward to having it signed by the Governor of Maryland.

-- Demand that the Archdiocese of Baltimore provides work and assignment history for each of the perps listed in the report, their last known location as well      as whether they know if the perp is still living.

-- Demand that the dioceses of Washington DC and Wilmington, DE publicly release the information that they have given to the AG. 

WHEN: Friday, April 7^th at 11:00 AM. 

WHERE: On the sidewalk in front of the Baltimore Archdiocesan office at 320 Cathedral St, Baltimore, MD 21201

Who: SNAP Leaders, fellow advocates, and survivors.

Why: If a priest is facing only one accused from a very distant past and no Church records are available, a few omissions by Archbishop Lori may be reasonable. The Archbishop should err on the side of being more transparent, not less, for the benefit of the victims who are still in pain, the vulnerable children who are still in danger, and the heartbroken parishioners.

The AG report contains more names of abusers than have been released publicly by church officials. We want Archbishop Lori to answer questions as to why his list is deficient and answer what was hidden from the public by church officials and why. Clearly, the AG has uncovered more information than MD church officials wanted to be made public. With our 35 years of experience, we know that church officials have long hidden abuse files from law enforcement officials in other states and we trust that previous A.G. Frosh and current A.G. Brown had complete access to those files for this report.

The long hard work of advocates and legislators finally paid off with the passage of the Child Victims Act. This reform for survivors of sexual violence in Maryland carries new rights for victims who have been time-barred from civil action. 

Contact: 

CONTACT: Mike McDonnell, SNAP Communications ([email protected], 267-261-0578) David Lorenz, SNAP Maryland leader ([email protected], 301-906-9161), Becky Ianni, Virginia and DC SNAP leader ([email protected], (703) 801-6044)  Zach Hiner, Executive Director ([email protected], 517-974-9009) Shaun Dougherty, SNAP Board President ([email protected], 814-341-8386)

(SNAP, the Survivors Network, has been providing support for victims of sexual abuse in institutional settings for 35 years. We have more than 25,000 survivors and supporters in our network. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)

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