PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
For immediate release: Monday, Nov. 25, 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 )
We are grateful that police are investigating alleged child sex crimes in a Philly Catholic school.
In these situations, it’s sometimes tempting for victims, witnesses and whistleblowers to contact school or church officials. That’s wrong. The independent and unbiased professionals in law enforcement should be contacted, not the biased amateurs in church or school offices.
For far too long, Philly Catholic officials have tried to handle cases like this quietly and “in house.” Those days and that practice must end.
We beg every single person who may have seen, suspected or suffered crimes or misdeeds by this teacher to call police and prosecutors. We applaud any and every one who already cooperating with secular authorities to get to the bottom of these troubling allegations.
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