CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Defender
by Morgan Lord
July 20, 2005
An advocate group of sexual abuse victims filed a complaint Tuesday accusing Chicago police of complicity in abuse of its members by a Chicago priest more than 10 years ago.
Barbara Blaine, president of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), said the complaint accuses some police officers of involvement in the supposed silencing of eight South Side boys who were molested by their Catholic priest, Father Victor Stewart, in 1992.
After the molestation incidents, eight of the boys were picked up by the police, threatened and held without the consent of their parents, according to Blaine and the victims. They were told not to speak to anyone about what happened.
"The boys' innocence was shattered by their priest, and the actions of the Chicago Police Department led the victims to feel further guilt and shame," Blaine said, speaking outside police headquarters, 3510 S. Michigan Ave. "The officers should have informed the parents."
This complaint is the first such abuse charge that moves beyond the accusations against the Archdiocese of Chicago to the police.