ALBANY (NY)
WNYT Channel 13
July 18, 2019
Shortly after NewsChannel 13 brought you Michael Harmon’s story of alleged priest sex abuse in Albany in the 1980s, the Albany chapter of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests or S.N.A.P contacted NewsChannel 13’s investigative team. Albany SNAP Leader Nancy Fratianni has a message for survivors in the Capital District.
Nancy Fratianni S.N.A.P. leader for Albany, “For people to reach out who don’t know where to go. They don’t know what the first step is, they may not want to go back to the church to somebody because they’re uncomfortable with that. They’re afraid to go to the police, they’re afraid to talk to friends or family.”
NewsChannel 13 is digging deeper, taking a closer look at the list of the Diocese of Albany’s Credibly Accused while serving in the Diocese. Those included have been removed from ministry and those who were deceased or resigned prior to a finding of reasonable grounds by the Diocesan Review Board due to sexual misconduct with a minor according to the Albany Diocese.
Several ex-priests within the Diocese of Albany have been named in civil lawsuits over the years. Some court records WNYT found show the cases were discontinued. No civil records are kept on file out of court settlements. Some former priests locally have been convicted criminally for crimes against children. One of them managed to walk away a free man.
Nancy Fratianni with S.N.A.P. in Albany told NewsChannel 13, “Every time one survivor comes out and says something, it makes it easier for others as well.”
Not long after 49-year-old Michael Harmon went public with his accusations against ex-priest with the Albany Diocese Father Edward Pratt, emails from viewers started coming in to WNYT.
Nancy Fratianni added, “I wanted him to know that he was supported and that we care. We’re here for him and other survivors like him, and how very brave that was to speak openly about his experience.”
In June, Michael Harmon told NewsChannel 13, “I had to be at his mercy, because he told me if I ever stopped him that I would be taken away from my mother.”
Pratt declined to speak with 13 Investigates. One of 47 clergy listed as credibly accused by the Diocese of Albany and removed from ministry. Less than-two dozen are alive today, including ex-priest Father Joseph Romano.
NewsChannel 13 found Romano living at an apartment in Clifton Park.
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