PENNSYLVANIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
The nation’s largest support group for survivors of sexual abuse in institutional settings today is demanding that the bishop of Greensburg, PA turn over all secret files pertaining to a priest arrested yesterday for sexual abuse.
[PennLive]
That priest, John T. Sweeney, was criminally charged for sexually abusing a 10-year-old boy in the 1990s.
Members of SNAP, the Survivors Network, (SNAPNetwork.org), believe that Greensburg Bishop Edward C. Malesic may be withholding evidence, hidden in secret files otherwise known as Canon 489 files. These files, that every bishop must keep according to church law, outline abuse allegations and include letters, memos, reports from parents and victims, psychological reports, witness accounts of abuse, and other important evidence that law enforcement can use to help bolster their case.
“Sometimes, dioceses will hide these files in their lawyers’ offices under attorney-client privilege so that they can’t be subpoenaed,” said Judy Jones, Midwest Regional Leader, SNAP. “Other times, they just don’t turn them over. These files are so secret and so protected that law enforcement has to know exactly what they are asking for. Otherwise, men like Bishop Malesic are only going to turn over a sanitized file and then issue a statement saying that they knew ’nothing’ about allegations.”
Jones says that until now, Malesic’s efforts as well as the efforts of other bishops to be forthcoming about abuse have been failures.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.