MISSOURI
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
For immediate release: Saturday, Feb. 21
Statement by Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, Outreach Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests ( 314-503-0003, bdorris@SNAPnetwork.org )
On Monday, Gary P. Wolken, a serial child predator and defrocked Catholic priest, will walk free from a prison in Bonne Terre Missouri. In his 40s, he’s charismatic, charming, well-educated and well-spoken, so he’ll have plenty of chances to molest again.
That’s why we urge St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson to do a bit more, for once, about a predator priest. We urge him to:
–start this weekend personally visiting every parish where Wolken worked,
–beg victims, witnesses and whistleblowers to call police,
–make this plea in church bulletins and websites (including the archdiocesan website),
–use the archdiocesan newspaper to also prod people with information and suspicions about Wolken to call law enforcement, and
–hold a news conference to warn parents, parishioners and the public about Wolken, stressing that he might face more charges – and be kept away from more kids – if everyone who saw, suspected or suffered his crimes speaks up.
We ask Carlson to do this kind of outreach for one simple reason: it’s effective. Pleas to victims to “speak up” help bring forward others who are suffering in silence, shame and self-blame. They help police and prosecutors pursue predators. And they’re what Carlson should do to restore faith in the Catholic hierarchy and safeguard the Catholic flock.
(We believe it’s disingenuous and dangerous for bishops to recruit, educate, ordain, hire, train, supervise, transfer and shield predator priests, but then defrock them when their crimes hit the headlines and do nothing else to protect the vulnerable from them.)
Wolken “admitted exposing himself to a boy, inappropriately touching him, and having oral sex with him over a three-year period, beginning when the child was 5,” according to the Associated Press. The crimes took place in Ballwin as Wolken baby-sat him from August 1997 to July 2000.
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