MISSOURI
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
By Lilly Fowler
One of the first St. Louis area priests to plead guilty to sexual abuse since the crisis shook the Roman Catholic Church more than a decade ago is now a free man.
On Monday morning, after 12 years in prison, Gary P. Wolken, 49, walked out of the Western Missouri Correctional Center in the small town of Cameron.
That has some in the community worried.
Advocates for victims of sexual abuse say the Archdiocese of St. Louis could and should do more to protect the public from priests who have admitted to sexually abusing children, even after they are no longer allowed to function as pastors or have served time in prison.
“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,” said David Clohessy of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.
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