FLORIDA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
For immediate release: Friday, May 1, 2015
Statement by Melanie Jula Sakoda of Moraga, California, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), SNAP Orthodox Director (925-708-6175, melanie.sakoda@gmail.com)
An Orthodox educator from Florida was sentenced yesterday to ten years in prison as the result of a plea deal. The sentence will be followed by ten years’ probation and life time registry as a sex offender.
We are glad that James Larkin will spend time behind bars. While incarcerated, he will be unable to hurt any more kids.
Now that the criminal process is complete, we beg the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (GOA) to use all of their resources to reach out to the students, faculty and volunteers who were at Saint John Greek Orthodox Day School in Tampa from 1978 to 2009, when Larkin was the principal. Since one of Larkin’s admitted victims was abused during this period of time, the Church should urge anyone who experienced, witnessed or suspected Larkin of child sexual abuse to contact the police.
We applaud the courage of the three men who reported their abuse by Larkin to law enforcement. Hopefully, their bravery will encourage other victims to speak up, report to law enforcement and begin healing.
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