GA -- Victims Leaflet the Church

Victims to leaflet church-goers

They tout new child sex abuse law

It could bring hundreds of new suits

Rare measure lets even old cases be filed

Dozens of child predators could be exposed

Group also seeks others hurt by “notorious perp”

Two of his victims were each awarded more than $1 million

SNAP: “Catholic church officials should do aggressive outreach”

WHAT

As parishioners leave mass, clergy sex abuse victims and their supporters will hand them fliers. The leaflets:

-- applaud a new Georgia law that may lead to many more lawsuits against child predators

-- beg victims to use that law to “expose molesters and protect kids,” and

-- prod anyone who saw or suspected clergy sex crimes or cover ups in the Savannah area to step forward.

They will especially prod people to speak up if they have been hurt by a notorious Georgia predator priest who was just sued last month.

WHEN

Wednesday, April 22 at 12:15 p.m.

WHERE

On the sidewalk outside the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, 222 East Harris Street  (corner of Abercorn) in Savannah GA

WHO

Two members of a self-help group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPnetwork.org), including a Missouri woman who is the organization’s long time outreach director

VISUALS

The victims will hold signs and childhood photos.

WHY

One month ago, the third child sex abuse and cover up lawsuit was filed against Fr. Wayland Yoder Brown and his Catholic supervisors.

http://www.news4jax.com/news/georgia-news/lawsuit-alleges-more-abuse-by-former-ga-priest/31950782.

More such litigation may be on the way, however, because Georgia lawmakers have opened an unusual “window” giving potentially hundreds of child sex abuse victims the chance to expose their predators in court.

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/story/news/features/2015/03/27/georgia-hidden-predator-act/70528436/

Only a handful of states (California, Delaware, Hawaii and Minnesota) have adopted a measure like this, which gives almost anyone who was abused as a child by anyone the chance to file a civil suit no matter when the alleged crimes took place. Victims’ advocates applaud the law, saying it protects kids by making public the names of proven, admitted and credibly accused child molesters, most of who still walk free and work or live among unsuspecting families, neighbors and co-workers.

Until now, SNAP says, an “archaic and predator-friendly” statute of limitations has enabled most adults who commit or conceal child sex crimes to escape detection. The group calls the “window” the “best, cheapest, quickest and safest way to safeguard kids and prevent crimes by exposing predators.”

The “window” opens in July and covers victims up to age 53 who have not previously sued.

SNAP is also convinced that more victims of Fr. Brown “remain trapped in shame, silence and self-blame.” The group is highly critical of Savannah Catholic officials – especially Bishop Gregory John Hartmayer - for doing what it says is “little or nothing” to find and help other victims of Fr. Brown. SNAP says Hartmayer should personally go to each site where Fr. Brown worked, “even briefly,” and make “an impassioned plea for victims, witnesses and whistleblowers to break their silence.”

The first known abuse complaint against Fr. Brown came in 1969 when he was lay teacher in Savannah. Then-Bishop Raymond Lessard ordained Brown despite advice from a vocations director. Complaints against Brown kept surfacing through late 1980s.

There are current criminal charges against Brown in South Carolina, filed in 2008. case 20081960 in the warrants division.

After treatment at a Maryland church facility for sexually trouble clerics (St. Luke’s Institute in Suitland), he was returned to ministry in 1986. Three men accused him of abusing them as boys in the 1960s and 1970s. In 2002, Brown pled guilty to molesting two boys in 1974 while at Catholic University seminary in Washington DC. For those offenses, he was sentenced in 2003 to ten years prison. He was released, however, in 2008. That year, another lawsuit was filed against him. It settled the following year for $4.24 million. In 2011, another suit was filed against him. He was reportedly defrocked by the Vatican in 2004.

Brown’s photo and work history is here: http://www.bishop-accountability.org/assign/Brown_Wayland_Y.htm

One of Brown’s victims is represented by Savannah attorney Mark Tate (912-484-1762)

CONTACT

Barbara Dorris 314 503 0003, [email protected], David Clohessy 314 566 9790, [email protected], [email protected]