Clergy Sex Abuse Victim to Discuss NY Archdiocese Compensation Program

By Diane C. Lore
Staten Island Advance
June 9, 2017

http://www.silive.com/news/2017/06/clergy_sex_abuse_survivor_to_d.html

Clergy sex abuse survivor Shaun Dougherty will be attending upcoming community board meetings in Staten Island to discuss the New York Archdiocese compensation program for abuse victims. (Penn.Live photo)

Clergy sex abuse survivor Shaun Dougherty will be attending upcoming community board meetings in Staten Island to discuss the New York Archdiocese compensation program for abuse victims.

The deadline to apply for the program was set for July 31, but the Archdiocese has extended it to Nov. 1.

A total of 145 victims have submitted claims under the program so far since it was announced by Cardinal Timothy Dolan in October, 2016; 122 have accepted the compensation offered, according to archdiocesan spokesman Joseph Zwilling.

Dougherty said he wants to encourage survivors to register before the program expires.

As part of his effort to raise awareness for the program, he is also sending letters to local churches urging them to discuss the program with their parishioners.

New York's statute of limitations only gives victims five years to take action against their abusers. Because this window has passed for many, Dougherty believes the Archdiocese program is currently the only way for survivors to receive compensation and have their voices heard.

Dougherty has said he was abused by a parish priest as a 10-year-old boy growing up in Johnstown, Pa.

Now a 46-year-old Queens restaurateur, Dougherty has said the pain from the abuse still haunts him. He has become active in the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), the national victims support organization, where he has told his story.

Dougherty plans to attend Tuesday's Community Board 1 meeting at 7:30 p.m. in All Saint Episcopal Church, Willowbrook. District manager Joseph Carroll said Dougherty is not scheduled to speak on the board's formal agenda, but would be able to sign up to speak during the public portion of the meeting. Speakers are time-limited, he said.

Dougherty also plans to attend the June 20 meeting of Community Board 2 in the Lou Caravone Community Service Building on the campus of Sea View Hospital Rehabilitation Center and Home. He is not on the agenda to speak, and public speakers are limited to two-and-a-half minutes, district manager Debra Derrico said.