ALABAMA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
For immediate release: Wednesday, Nov. 5
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 Catholic priest who spent the last two decades of his life working in Alabama has been exposed – for the first time – as a credibly accused child molester. We call on Alabama Catholic officials to warn parents, parishioners and the public about him and to beg anyone with information or suspicions about him to call law enforcement immediately.
[WWLP]
From 1983 to 2003, Fr. Sean Leo Rooney worked at St. John Bosco parish in Birmingham and Holy Rosary parish in Birmingham (Gate City). In 2013, Fr. Rooney was accused in a lawsuit of having sexually abused a 14-year-old junior seminary student at least twice.
Last week, a Boston attorney disclosed that he settled a child sex abuse and cover up case against Fr. Rooney and his church supervisors. That attorney, Mitchell Garabedian, has posted Fr. Rooney’s name on his website as one of dozens of accused priests against whom Garabedian has won settlements.
We applaud Fr. Rooney’s victim for having the strength to come forward, file suit, endure delays and win some measure of justice and expose Catholic officials who have committed and concealed child sex crimes.
And we denounce Catholic officials in every state where he worked who apparently have kept silent about the accusations against Fr. Rooney for months or years.
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