NORWICH (CT)
The Day
February 13. 2019
By Joe Wojtas
The Connecticut chapter of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests on Wednesday called on Chief State’s Attorney Kevin Kane to set up a hotline to receive complaints from people who say they were abused by Catholic priests in the state.
In addition, Gail Howard said her organization has identified three priests, in addition to the six priests and brothers identified by The Day, who were not included on the list of 43 substantively accused of sexually assaulting minors that was released by the Diocese of Norwich on Sunday.
Howard, who made the comments during a Wednesday afternoon news conference in front of the Cathedral of St. Patrick, which is just yards from Bishop Michael Cote’s office, also called on the diocese to release more information about those on the list, such as what parishes and schools they served at.
“We need to know where these offenders worked and what parishes allowed them to have access to children,” said Howard, who was accompanied by John “Tim” McGuire of New London, who alleged last summer that, when he was 8 and an altar boy at St. Joseph’s Church in Noank, the late James Curry molested him.
The diocese’s list also did not say what the priests were accused of doing and whether the diocese reported them to police or the state Department of Children and Families, which clergy have been required to do under the state’s mandatory reporter law since 1971.
While all but 10 of the priests on the list are deceased, Howard said SNAP wants to know where the ones who are alive are now living.
“These are people who are a danger to children now. They need to be watched carefully,” she said.
According to the diocese’s list, diocesan priests such as Richard Buongirno and R. Thomas McConaghy still are alive.
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