MINNESOTA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Friday May 22

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

Fr. Joseph Palanivel Jeyapaul – who worked in two Minnesota dioceses: St. Paul and Crookston – has pled guilty to child sex crimes. We’re glad that it’s now crystal clear to virtually everyone that he’s a dangerous man who should be kept away from kids.

But we’re deeply worried that he may soon be free and will likely be around unsuspecting families and assault more children. (He has yet to be sentenced.) And if that happens, the blame can squarely be put on US and Indian Catholic officials who have acted irresponsibly from the outset in this terrible case.

Few child molesters in history have been as widely exposed as Fr….