December 23, 2005

Advocates warn public about former Q-C priest

UNIVERSITY PARK (MO)
Quad-City Times

By Robert Patrick

UNIVERSITY CITY, Mo. — Advocates for victims of clergy sex abuse passed out leaflets Thursday in a neighborhood of this St. Louis suburb, warning people about a former Quad-City area priest with a white beard and hair who they say has worn a Santa Claus cap while passing out candy to children.

The Davenport Catholic Diocese has said the Rev. William Wiebler admitted molesting several minors during the 1970s and ‘80s. Neighbors have been concerned ever since he left the St. John Vianney Renewal Center in Jefferson County, Mo., during the spring of 2004 and moved to University City.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, passed out bright yellow flyers including a color photograph of Wiebler in a bushy white beard and Hawaiian-type shirt.

Wiebler did not respond to his front intercom buzzer or knocks on his back door Thursday, although he was in the house and looked through the blinds at a Post-Dispatch reporter. He bore a striking resemblance to popular depictions of Santa Claus with his hair and bushy beard set off by what appeared to be either a red shirt or red long johns.

Posted by kshaw at December 23, 2005 07:18 AM