February 20, 2006

Activists seeking possible victims of former Alton priest

ALTON (IL)
The Telegraph

By CYNTHIA M. ELLIS
The Telegraph

ALTON -- Members of the country’s largest support group for clergy sex molestation victims passed out leaflets Sunday to parishioners at St. Mary’s Catholic Church.

David Clohessey, the national director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, and others with the St. Louis-based national activist group weathered the frigid temperatures in an effort to reach worshippers who may have been abused by the Rev. John Steven Rabideau.

"We want to reach anyone who may be a victim of Rabideau’s abuse," Clohessey said.

"This is our first outreach in Alton," Jeff Mueller, a SNAP member, said.

The flier explained that the former priest, who served at St. Mary’s and the former St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, 918 E. Fifth St., Alton, in 1991 and 1992 is accused of molesting three boys in Michigan in the 1980s.

Posted by kshaw at February 20, 2006 09:09 AM