MISSISSIPPI
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
For immediate release: Thursday, March 20, 2014
For more information: David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests ( 314 566 9790, SNAPclohessy@aol.com )
Priest with child sex abuse allegations is promoted
He is accused of molesting at least four boys & was sued
But he went overseas and is second-in-command of a diocese
And at least one child sex lawsuit against him has been settled
Group wants Jackson bishop to reach out to victims & get priest defrocked
A Catholic priest who allegedly molested several boys is now second-in-command at a diocese in Paraguay. And a victims’ group wants Jackson Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz, who was once the cleric’s supervisor, to reach out to others he has hurt and urge the Pope to intervene and defrock him.
Fr. Carlos Urrutigoity was accused of sexually abusing at least four boys in the Scranton Pennsylvania diocese, where Kopacz was in leadership positions, between 2002-2004. At least two civil suits were filed and one of them was settled for $454,550.
But last week, a Boston-based research group called BishopAccountability.org disclosed that Fr. Urrutigoity is now in the Diocese of Ciudad del Este, Paraguay and is its Vicar General.
Bishop Kopacz was in charge of investigating child abuse allegations in the diocese of Scranton while Fr. Urrutigoity worked there. Kopacz allegedly ignored a warning about Urrutigoity’s inappropriate behavior without even talking to the victim. In 1999, Kopacz and his Scranton church colleagues were warned by Minnesota church officials about allegations that Father Urrutigoity had abused a seminarian, according to a federal lawsuit.
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