NEW JERSEY
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
For immediate release: Tuesday, June 28, 2016
Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 566 9790, 314 645 5915 home, davidgclohessy@gmail.com)
We’re relieved and grateful that a Paterson priest has been found guilty of child sex crimes. We applaud the brave girl who reported her suffering and hope this verdict brings her and her family some well-deserved consolation.
We also hope this verdict will bring solace to others who may have seen, suspected or suffered child sex crimes or cover ups in Paterson, by Fr. Jose Lopez or other clerics. And we hope these individuals will find the strength to speak up, expose wrongdoers, call police and start healing.
Finally, we hope Paterson Bishop Arthur Serratelli will
–aggressively use church bulletins, pulpit announcements and parish websites to find others with information or suspicions about Fr. Lopez and beg them to call law enforcement. It’s important that courts, prosecutors and cops know as much as possible about criminals before they’re sentenced.
–insist that his flock stop publicly rallying around a now-proven predator. That kind of callousness only deters other victims of horrific sexual violence into staying silent, which enables child molesters to hurt more kids.
No matter what church officials do or don’t do, we urge every single person who saw, suspected or suffered child sex crimes and cover ups in Catholic churches or institutions to protect kids by calling police, get help by calling therapists, expose wrongdoers by calling law enforcement, get justice by calling attorneys, and be comforted by calling support groups like ours. This is how kids will be safer, adults will recover, criminals will be prosecuted, cover ups will be deterred and the truth will surface.
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