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Advocacy Group Asking Illinois Priest Abuse Victims, Witnesses to Come Forward

By Logan Gay
WPSD TV
January 16, 2019

https://www.wpsdlocal6.com/2019/01/16/advocacy-group-asking-illinois-priest-abuse-victims-witnesses-to-come-forward/

A victims advocacy group has a list of eight Catholic priests who it says were credibly accused of sexual assault in other states, and there’s evidence that some of them may have made their way through southern Illinois.

Now, the group — Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or S.N.A.P. — is calling on the bishop of southern Illinois to put their names on the church’s accused priest list.

Two men from S.N.A.P. are trying to protect the vulnerable and heal the wounded. They’re asking the public to come forward with any information about the priests written on a board you can see in the photos within this story.

“These priests, for the most part, were ordained somewhere else. They worked a lot of their career somewhere else, but also spent time in southern Illinois. So, we are afraid one or more of these priests could still be living in the area or returning to the area to visit,” said S.N.A.P. volunteer David Clohessy.

The issue is personal for both of them, because they were both sexually abused by someone within the Catholic Church.

“My life just really went downhill after this happened. Everything about my life changed, everything,” said S.N.A.P. volunteer Larry Antonsen.

A victims advocacy group has a list of eight Catholic priests who it says were credibly accused of sexual assault in other states, and there’s evidence that some of them may have made their way through southern Illinois.

Now, the group — Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or S.N.A.P. — is calling on the bishop of southern Illinois to put their names on the church’s accused priest list.

Two men from S.N.A.P. are trying to protect the vulnerable and heal the wounded. They’re asking the public to come forward with any information about the priests written on a board you can see in the photos within this story.

“These priests, for the most part, were ordained somewhere else. They worked a lot of their career somewhere else, but also spent time in southern Illinois. So, we are afraid one or more of these priests could still be living in the area or returning to the area to visit,” said S.N.A.P. volunteer David Clohessy.

The issue is personal for both of them, because they were both sexually abused by someone within the Catholic Church.

“My life just really went downhill after this happened. Everything about my life changed, everything,” said S.N.A.P. volunteer Larry Antonsen.

 

 

 

 

 




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