OHIO
Vindicator
By joe gorman
jgorman@vindy.com
youngstown
A man saying he was abused by a deacon and former Diocese of Youngstown employee in 1976 said he came forward to help other people who may have been abused by the same person.
The diocese in 2011, however, told Jerry Arnal, 51, of Youngstown, who is making the claim, that it investigated and found the claims to be unsubstantiated. The diocese also said the employee, who also used to be at Cardinal Mooney High School, has not been employed by the diocese since last year and that he no longer is a deacon.
Judy Jones, Midwest regional director of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, and Arnal had a news conference outside St. Columba Cathedral on Wednesday. Jones urged Bishop George Murry, head of the diocese, to release the man’s name so that others can report abuse and seek help. Jones and Arnal refused to identify the person they are accusing, saying that is up to the diocese.
“We believe children are still at risk in this diocese,” Jones said. “We won’t release the name because Bishop Murry knows who it is, and it his responsibility.”
When asked if the name of someone who has not been formally charged should be released, Jones said the diocese has done it before with the case of former priest Thomas Crum. Crum was banished from the priesthood in 2010 after allegations surfaced in 2009 that he abused a student, also at Cardinal Mooney, in 1976. Crum was asked to resign by the diocese in June 2009 after the accuser’s May 2009 claim was investigated and found to be credible, and police departments in several other locations were contacted. Crum ultimately was not charged criminally because the statute of limitations, the time limit for filing charges in a criminal case, had run out.
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