RICHMOND (VA)
Richmond Times-Dispatch
BY LOUIS LLOVIO Richmond Times-Dispatch
An activist organization created by victims of childhood sexual abuse will protest the Richmond Outreach Center today outside Richmond police headquarters on Grace Street.
SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is protesting the South Richmond megachurch’s decision to stand by its pastor, Geronimo Aguilar, as he faces charges in Texas for the alleged sexual abuse of two children in 1996.
The group also is urging other alleged victims to come forward to local police.
“Frankly, it’s always heartbreaking to us to see congregants immediately and publicly rally for an accused child molester instead of keeping an open mind and urging anyone with information to come forward,” said David Clohessy, a spokesman for the organization.
Clohessy said the church’s decision to stand by Aguilar sends the wrong message to victims of sexual abuse — whether inside the church or watching the case from afar — who already find it extremely difficult to come forward and discuss what happened to them as children.
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