SEATTLE (PI)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
For immediate release: Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests ( 314 566 9790, SNAPclohessy@aol.com )
A retired judge and ex-U.S. attorney are blasting Seattle’s Catholic archbishop for being secretive and deceitful about predator priests.
We’re glad they’re speaking up. But they are to blame as well. They let themselves be used by church officials. They too kept quiet about Fr. Quigg for a decade.
The two men – retired Judge Terrence Carroll and former U.S. Attorney Mike McKay – are former members of an archdiocesan review board.
It’s great to see them urge Archbishop Peter Sartain to “release the documents” about Fr. Quigg, a credibly accused cleric who sexually exploited a teenager, but whose wrongdoing was hidden for ten years until our group recently sent out a news release about him.
But these two men could and should have done more sooner to warn the public and protect others. We hope they’ll do more soon, sharing other secrets they’ve kept. Far too few Catholic church members and employees have become “whistleblowers.” And that’s one reason why the church’s horrific clergy sex abuse and cover up crisis continues and why child molesting clerics remain hidden and kids remain at risk.
We agree with Carroll and McKay when they say it’s deceitful for Sartain to claim his staff “recently learned” that Fr. Quigg was still acting like a priest. We strongly suspect that archdiocesan staff knew Fr. Quigg was doing this but ignored it for fear of drawing attention to his sexual misdeeds.
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