LITTLE ROCK (AR)
KATV
[with video]
By Matt Mershon, Reporter
LITTLE ROCK (KATV) – A weekend benefit is set to honor a former Mount St. Mary’s Academy employee who was fired last year for failing to report sexual assault. The “going-away” party for Kathy Griffin, the all-girls school former athletic director is now coming under fire by two national sex abuse advocacy groups – one of which is asking the Arkansas Catholic Diocese to step in.
Griffin was convicted in September of failure to report a child sex crime in the case of an inappropriate relationship between a Mount St. Mary student and high school coach. The victim had been in a relationship with Coach Kelly O’Rourke since 2010, according to a Little Rock Police report.
It’s Griffin’s conviction that has both the Survivor’s Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) and the National Survivors Action Coalition (NSAC) upset that the supposed fundraiser is taking place claiming the event is, “in complete disregard for the feelings of at least one child who was hurt because of Griffin’s crimes.
The former athletic director clearly has a great deal of supporters. A group entitled, “Support Coach Kathy Griffin” is a public group on Facebook. The group has been raising money for Griffin via a PayPal account and US Bank account, citing her lack of income from firing and court fees as reason for raising the funds.
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