YOUNGSTOWN (OH)
WFMJ
October 9, 2018
By Michelle Nicks
The organization SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is holding news conferences statewide to get the attention of the Ohio Attorney General.
The group is asking Mike DeWine to launch investigations into clergy sex crimes and coverups just like Pennsylvania and now Michigan.
Standing in front of the Youngstown satellite office for the Ohio Attorney General, members of SNAP called on DeWine to take action.
Judy Jones with the SNAP Network out of St. Louis said, “We are asking Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine to do a grand jury investigation into every Diocese in Ohio (and there are six). In August the Pennsylvania Attorney General, Josh Shapiro, released a grand jury report that was very scathing and it showed that Bishops and church officials covered up and enabled child sex crimes.”
A spokesperson with AG’s office in Columbus confirms that Ohio does not have a statewide grand jury mechanism or the authority to do that unless they’re contacted by a prosecutor.
Mahoning County Prosecutor Paul Gains tells 21 News, “We have to look at crimes when it comes to a grand jury, not the behavior of a Diocese or a group. We still need victims to come forward so we can investigate.”
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