Victims advocate pushes Sioux City diocese to expand list of church officials accused of abuse

May 24, 2019

SIOUX CITY -- Tim Lennon stood at the corner of 10^thand Douglas streets Thursday – the steeple of the Cathedral of the Epiphany rising high above him – as he held the picture of a 12-year old boy who had been sexually abused by a Catholic priest in Sioux City 1960.

It was a photo of himself.

Now 72 and living in Tucson, Arizona, Lennon has been fighting for justice for other victims of abuse by Catholic officials. Back in his hometown Thursday, he accused the Diocese Sioux City of continuing to shroud itself in secrecy, even though the diocese earlier this year made public the names of 28 priests accused of sexually abusing children.

Lennon said the diocese, in its Feb. 25 disclosure, excluded nuns, brothers and deacons and religious order priests who have been accused of abuse. The church also did not list priests or other church officials who victimized other adults, he said.

“We want to have full disclosure,” Lennon, president of a victims advocacy group called Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, said at the news conference Thursday. “That’s one of the purposes, to say, to call out to victims to step forward. If not to us, to family members, to police, to brothers and sisters, wives and husbands.”

A diocese review board, after examining records dating to the diocese's founding in 1902, identified 28 priests they said were "credibly" accused of abusing more than 100 children while serving in the diocese, which covers a large territory in Northwest Iowa.

It was the first such disclosure by the diocese, despite repeated calls by SNAP and other victims advocacy groups to do so earlier.

In a statement Thursday, the diocese noted its independent review board "worked diligently" to review all allegati...

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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.’

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