AR–Child sex abuse case vs. priest settles

ARKANSAS
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Saturday, Jan. 30

Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests ( 314 566 9790, SNAPclohessy@aol.com , davidgclohessy@gmail.com )

A woman who says she was sexually abused as a child by an Arkansas priest has settled her child sex abuse and cover up suit. We applaud her and her family for their courage and beg Arkansas Catholic officials – especially Little Rock Bishop Anthony Taylor – to “come clean” about child molesting clerics. And we condemn the harsh words of a Subiaco Catholic official whose cruelty is rubbing even more salt into the deep wounds of this brave family.

[Star-Telegram]

A lawsuit charged that Father Bede Mitchel repeatedly sexually assaulted her when she was eight years old. He was a Benedictine priest from Subiaco Abbey who worked for four years in the Ft. Worth diocese where these crimes took place.

Subiaco Abbot Jerome Kodell claims nothing in Mitchel’s record indicates wrongdoing and claims to have done a fruitless “search for corroborating evidence of the sexual assault.”

“The abbey did not want to settle. The insurance provider opted to settle,” Kodell said. “If this had gone to trial, Mitchel would have been found innocent.”

We are appalled by these mean-spirited remarks. Years ago, Flip Wilson’s character Geraldine quipped that “The devil made me do it.” It’s equally ludicrous that Kodell claims “the insurance company made us.” Worse, it’s callous and disingenuous.

It’s callous because it heaps more pain on this brave victim. And it’s disingenuous because it contradicts the obvious fact that both the Ft. Worth Catholic officials AND the insurance company found this abuse report credible.

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