SPRINGFIELD (IL)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
For immediate release: Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2013
Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests ( 314 566 9790, SNAPclohessy@aol.com )
Springfield Bishop Thomas Paprocki often seeks the media limelight to trumpet his views loudly (like with today’s exorcism). But he still quietly sits on child sex abuse allegations for weeks.
In September, Paprocki let a priest who’s accused of child sex crimes temporarily resign, instead of suspending him. Before that, however, Paprocki kept the allegations secret for weeks, giving the accused predator plenty of time to destroy evidence, intimidate victims, threaten witnesses, discredit whistleblowers, fabricate alibis and even flee the country.
Weeks ago, Paprocki temporarily let Fr. Robert “Bud” DeGrand resign from his posts at Catholic parishes in Sigel, Neoga, Green Creek and Lillyville.
First, Paprocki should have suspended Fr. DeGrand. That’s what the US bishops pledged to do when credible child sex abuse reports surfaced. That’s what the US bishops’ official sex abuse policy mandates. There’s a difference between someone stepping aside and someone being TOLD to step aside. To let a credibly accused child molesting cleric decide whether to temporarily step down minimizes the horror he or she allegedly committed.
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