UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
For immediate release: Friday, June 27, 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 former Jehovah’s Witness elder has been found guilty of child sex crimes. We are very grateful to his courageous victims. And we are glad that Mark Sewell will be kept away from children, at least for a while.
Sewell will be sentenced next month. So it’s not too late for others who saw, suspected or suffered his crimes to step forward and help make sure he’s locked up for a long time.
The internal church “process” followed here was awful. Victims were sworn to silence and had to be in the room with this predator when they reported their pain, both of which are cruel demands to make on brave but deeply-suffering crime victims.
Given the mean-spirited treatment by JW officials, it’s a miracle that Sewell’s victims are willing to cooperate with the secular justice system. We applaud them for doing so. We hope they take some comfort from the jury’s wise decision today.
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