NEW JERSEY
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
For immediate release: Wednesday, September 24, 2014
For more info: David Clohessy ( 314 566 9790, davidgclohessy@gmail.com ) Mark Crawford ( 732 632 7687, mecrawf@comcast.net )
“Where’s predator priest now?” victims ask
A dozen years later, Vatican finally defrocks him
But bishop told only a small group of parishioners
SNAP: “Public needs to know where offender is now”
Ex-spiritual advisor to former governor McGreevey is defrocked
A support group for clergy sex abuse victims is writing Metuchen’s Catholic bishop urging him to reveal the whereabouts of a recently-defrocked abusive priest and explain why he only told some parishioners – and not the broader public – that the priest has been defrocked.
Fr. Michael Cashman was once the spiritual advisor to then-Governor James McGreevey. But in 2002, Cashman was accused of having molested a mother and her two teenage children – a daughter and son – over a period of several years. The church paid $145,000 to the victims along with another woman, who accused him of improper conduct.
Vatican officials defrocked Cashman earlier this year, but instead of holding a news conference or sending out a news release, Metuchen Bishop Paul Bootkoski (732 562 1990) only notified one parish and readers of a diocesan publication.
He told some priests it was up to them to make announcements in their churches about Cashman’s defrocking.
Leaders of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, are asking Bootkoski to “tell the public where this dangerous predator is now and why you only notified a relatively small group of parishioners that he was formally and completely ousted from the priesthood.”
“If the bishop really wanted to protect kids, he would have shouted from the rooftops ‘It’s official. Cashman’s credibly accused. Keep your kids away from him,’” said David Clohessy of St. Louis, SNAP’s director. “Instead, he basically protected a predator and the reputation of top Metuchen Catholic officials.”
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