PEORIA (IL)
Journal Star
[Bishop Myers deposition via BishopAccountability.org in easy to use format]
[Via Jeff Anderson & Associates: Deposition of Archbishop Myers Redacted
Deposition of Msgr Gerald Ward Redacted
Deposition of Archbishop Myers Redacted]
By PAM ADAMS (padams@pjstar.com)
Journal Star
Posted Aug 13, 2013
PEORIA —
On the heels of the Catholic Diocese of Peoria’s $1.35 million settlement on sexual abuse charges brought by a former altar boy in Normal, three members of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, gathered near diocese headquarters today to urge all victims of abuse to come forward.
“I’m standing right here to ask every child who’s been abused to come forward, come forward. It doesn’t have to have been by a Catholic priest,” said Jeff Jones, 59, a Rockford man who says he was abused by a Catholic priest while growing up in Pekin.
Jones, his brother, Joe, 63, who currently lives in Pekin, and Bob Heinz, 63, of Kickapoo, who says his wife was abused by a priest in Michigan, said they came to Peoria to show support for Andrew Ward and his family. Ward, now 25 and living in Michigan, filed a lawsuit accusing the late Monsignor Thomas Maloney of sexual abuse at Epiphany Catholic Church between 1995 and 1996. The lawsuit also accused Newark Archbishop John J. Myers, former bishop of the 26-county Peoria diocese, of failing to act on Ward’s allegations.
Ward’s mother, Joanne, speaking during a press conference in Newark, said Myers should be jailed. The settlement includes the release of Myers deposition in the case.
Back in Peoria, Jeff Jones praised Ward for speaking out about his abuse in 2008.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.