Church Officials in Sioux City Hid Allegations for Thirty Years, SNAP Responds

SNAP
October 31, 2018

http://www.snapnetwork.org/sioux_city_hid_allegations_oct18http:/www.snapnetwork.org/sioux_city_hid_allegations_oct18

For more than 30 years Iowa Catholic officials knew a priest had abused at least 50 kids but kept silent. By protecting Fr. Jerome Coyle, the Diocese of Sioux City actively put other children at risk.

According to the Associated Press, Sioux City Catholic officials have "hidden for decades a priest's admission that he sexually abused dozens of Iowa boys." Also according to the AP, Fr. Coyle is still alive and resides in a retirement home in Fort Dodge, across the street from a Catholic school. The priest spent years and years living "under the radar" in New Mexico before a recent move back to Iowa.

What happens next is crucial. Every single Sioux City church employee - from bishop to bookkeeper - should mount an aggressive effort to find and help others who may have been hurt by Fr. Coyle. Chancery officials should turn over every page of his personnel file to law enforcement. From pulpits this Sunday, priests should beg victims, witnesses and whistle blowers to call police. On church websites and in parish bulletins, similar pleas should be made. The bishop must visit every site where Fr. Coyle worked, prodding those with information or suspicion to come forward. And he must hire outside investigators to determine which church staff helped Fr. Coyle evade detection. Those still on the job should be fired.