JEFFERSON CITY (MO)
News Tribune
By Ra'Vae Edwards
redwards@newstribune.com
Two members of SNAP briefly paraded in the front lawn of St. Joseph's Cathedral in Jefferson City on Saturday afternoon to encourage anyone who might have been sexually abused by a former area priest to come forward.
David Clohessy, national director of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), and Hartsburg resident Don Asbee, Mid-Missouri SNAP director, said their mission is to help victims come forward and get healing from the traumatic childhood experiences.
“We would urge anyone who has witnessed or been a victim of a sex crime involving a priest to come forward,” Clohessy said. “It's a long healing process. It has to start somewhere.”
The small demonstration was in response to a former Jefferson City Diocese priest, Father Robert Colbert, who was recently accused of sexual abuse that allegedly took place during a four-year period in the late 1980s.