LOUISIANA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
For immediate release: Thursday, April 3
Statement by Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, Outreach Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests ( 314 503 0003, SNAPdorris@gmail.com )
We urge Louisiana law enforcement officials to move very quickly to investigate and charge Mack Ford for the horrific crimes reported by Jennifer Halter and others at the New Bethany Home for Girls in Arcadia. We are deeply moved by the suffering and the courage of these brave women. Their concern for others and their own deep pain should prompt speedy and thorough action by police and prosecutors.
Quick movement by authorities would likely encourage other sex crime victims to step forward. That, in turn, would almost certainly prevent more sex crimes.
In recent years, police and prosecutors have become more aggressive, creative and successful at pursuing even very old crimes. We beg state authorities to use whatever resources are needed to make justice happen here.
But too often, police and prosecutors let elderly child molesters off easy. We hope that doesn’t happen here. We believe it’s very likely that Ford is still molesting kids. Age often doesn’t slow a child predator. If anything, it makes them more dangerous, for at least two reasons. First, because they become more shrewd at picking victims who can’t or won’t tell or be believed and who come from families that are less apt or willing to report to police. And second, because they also seem more trustworthy as they age, with stooped shoulders, slow gaits, thick glasses and thinning hair.
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