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Md-
Priest Who Headed Md Center Admits Felonies
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
February
4, 2014
http://www.snapnetwork.org/md_priest_who_headed_md_center_admits_felonies
Ex head of MD center pleads guilty
Catholic priest stole from three
sources
He headed facility for sexually
troubled clerics
And he himself is accused of
“inappropriate relationship”
A Catholic priest who headed the US' largest facility
for child molesting clergy has plead guilty to felony theft and
is likely headed to prison.
http://nhpr.org/post/ex-diocese-chancellor-plead-guilty-felony-theft-charges
He is Msgr. Edward Arsenault, who has also been a high
ranking church official in the Manchester NH diocese. Until May,
he had earned $170,000 as head of the St. Luke's Institute in
Suitland, Maryland.
A support group for clergy sex abuse victims questions
whether Msgr. Arsenault may have also stolen from St. Luke's and
it notes that Msgr. Arsenault is also accused of an
“inappropriate relationship,” according to New Hampshire church
officials. In roughly 17 states, any sexual contact between a
cleric and a congregant is a crime.
Leaders of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused
by Priests, are urging bishops in New Hampshire and Maryland to
“aggressively seek out others who may have seen, suspected or
suffered crimes or misdeeds by Msgr. Arsenault.” They believe
that he might still be prosecuted for other crimes “but only if
a sincere outreach effort is made, instead of the typical
response by Catholic officials, which is doing little or
virtually nothing.”
“We hope Catholic officials will be honest about Msgr.
Arsenault's alleged sexual misconduct,” said David Clohessy of
St. Louis, SNAP’s director. “No matter how old the victim may
be, it's always very hurtful – and often illegal- when a
powerful and allegedly celibate priest abuses his position and
sexually exploits a parishioner.”
“This is yet another reminder that no institution can
police itself and treat its own predators,” said Barbara Dorris
of St. Louis, SNAP's outreach director. “It's inherently
problematic and self-serving for Catholic officials to send
Catholic offenders to a facility run by Catholic officials.”
Arsenault has not been defrocked, SNAP notes,
stressing that he should still be referred to as “Msgr.
Arsenault.”
Contact: SNAPdorris@gmail.com
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