ST. LOUIS (MO)
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests
Oct. 8, 2019
A new sexual abuse and cover up case has been filed against a Mississippi diocese. We hope that this brave survivor’s decision to come forward will encourage others who may have seen, suspected or suffered crimes in the Diocese of Biloxi to make a report of their own.
According to the filing, Robert McGowen was abused in the rectory of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Hattiesburg, MS by Fr. John Scanlon from 1984-1985. Mr. McGowen alleges that Fr. Scanlon verbally, sexually, and emotionally abused him when he was 12 to 13 years old and argues that “the Diocese of Biloxi wholly failed to conduct an adequate investigation” into Fr. Scanlon. Had they done so, he argues, Fr. Scanlon never would have been in a position of authority over children.
Fr. Scanlon is now deceased and Mr. McGowen now lives in Arkansas.
As part of his lawsuit, Mr. McGowen is demanding that the Diocese of Biloxi release a list of accused clergy, lay employees, and volunteers “accused of abuse or infliction of emotional distress on minors.”
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