BishopAccountability.org
 
  Group Renews Call for Church Sex-Offender Registry Online

By Brent Jones
Baltimore Sun
April 8, 2010

http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/technology/bal-md.snap08apr08,0,1248925.story

A group that advocates for victims of church sex abuse is renewing its call for a national online registry of offenders after learning that a Catholic priest defrocked six years ago in Arizona has been living in Maryland.

Members of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests held a news conference outside the headquarters of the Archdiocese of Baltimore after discovering over the weekend that Robert C. Trupia, who was defrocked after being charged with molesting an altar boy in Arizona, is living in Maryland.

In 2003, Trupia was reportedly living outside Baltimore. Current public records show him living in Rockville.

"What did the Catholic Church in Maryland do to let people know that this guy was living here?" group member Joe Corcoran asked. "But not only this guy, but all of the other priests who have been defrocked. Where are they moving them to? And are they alerting the neighborhood, just like you would expect if the person was a convicted child sex offender?"

A spokesman for the Archdiocese of Baltimore said the church disclosed the names in 2002 of all priests who had worked in the archdiocese and faced credible allegations of child sexual abuse. All were removed from the ministry, spokesman Sean Caine said.

"Since that time, we have disclosed to parishes and the media any credible allegations, including the names of those who have been accused and any priest subsequently laicized or defrocked," Caine said.

Group members want a Web site detailing priests' crimes and current locations.

Representatives from the group also spoke out against Laurence Brett, a former priest and teacher who is accused of molesting at least 14 students while at Calvert Hall College High School in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Brett, who has been named in sexual-abuse investigations across the country, has been sought for years by authorities in Maryland and elsewhere.

"The church has a responsibility to put the names of Trupia and Brett into a national registry with their pictures with what they've done so that I as a parent can look it up," group member Frank Dingle said.

Contact: brent.jones@baltsun.com

 
 

Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.