MISSOURI
Moberly Monitor-Index
By Atina Roberts/Connie Duvall
Posted Sep. 11, 2015
An end to a chapter has come for one man.
David Clohessy formally filed charges after alleged abuse at the hands of Father John Whiteley while Clohessy attended St. Pius X in 1991. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Jefferson City recently reached a settlement with Clohessy.
According to statements by Clohessy, “he was intimidated into silence because of his trust in Whiteley, his belief that Whiteley was a close family friend, his perception of Whiteley’s greater physical strength, and his young age. He also alleges that the abuse caused him to repress the incidents so that he was unable to know or perceive that he was a victim of sexual abuse or that he suffered injuries from that abuse.”
Clohessy shared he began to realize in 1987 that Whiteley had abused him. It wasn’t until later in Clohessy’s life he was able to connect both his physical and emotional injuries to the abuse he says Whiteley caused.
A story “Former Rolla priest facing sex charges,” first appeared in the Daily News in Rolla in 1991.
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