MISSOURI
National Catholic Reporter
Jul. 26, 2012
By Joshua J. McElwee
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The leading advocacy group for clergy sex abuse victims has asked the Missouri Supreme Court to quash a local judge’s ruling for the group to grant access to more than 23 years of internal documents to attorneys who represent accused priests in the state, saying the order violates the confidentiality of abuse victims.
The request, formally known as a “writ of prohibition,” is the latest step by the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests in a months-long saga over access to the documents.
Twenty-two victims’ advocacy and church reform groups and six former and current local, state and federal prosecutors have also asked the court to intervene in the matter, saying the order could lead to further victimization and ultimately “intimidate, harass, and silence victims of sexual abuse.”
The requests stem from Jackson County, Mo., Circuit Court Judge Ann Mesle’s order July 17 to SNAP in a case concerning a Kansas City priest accused of abuse. The case, in which SNAP is not a party, made headlines in January when it became the first in which one of the group’s leaders was ordered to provide testimony.
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