CHEYENNE (WY)
Star-Tribune
By ROBERT W. BLACK
Star-Tribune capital bureau Sunday, August 28, 2005
CHEYENNE -- A victims' advocacy group has been rebuffed in its attempt to have the name of retired Roman Catholic Bishop Joseph Hart removed from a residence hall at a Torrington youth home.
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, based in Chicago, on Wednesday urged Wyoming Catholic leaders to strip Hart's name from a building at St. Joseph's Children's Home, which is affiliated with the church.
The request came following the third lawsuit filed against the bishop alleging sexual abuse in the 1970s when he was a priest.
Bishop David Ricken, who succeeded Hart as spiritual leader of Wyoming's Catholics in 2001, issued a statement Friday saying there was no reason to change the name of the Hart Children's Center.
"In this wonderful country, a person is innocent until proven guilty," Ricken said. "I am sure any one of us would welcome the protection of the law and the presumption of innocence if we had been accused.