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	SNAP Wants Action to Help Victims of Past Abuse By Emily Matesic WBAY May 21, 2008 http://www.wbay.com/Global/story.asp?S=8353266 SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, says comments last week by former Outagamie County district attorney, now state Supreme Court justice, David Prosser demonstrates how large the priest abuse problem is. Prosser told Action 2 News last week even though he believed brothers Troy and Todd Merryfield of Freedom were sexually abused as children by Father John Patrick Feeney, he did not prosecute the case in the late 1970s because he didn't think he could win. In 2004, Feeney, who was defrocked, was convicted for sexually abusing the brothers. SNAP thinks Prosser, like other prosecutors, was caught up in something larger than he could handle. "This is about a problem that exists, has existed within this system. This is about a kind of arrangement, sort of understanding, that's been around for a long time between unfortunately law enforcement and elevated members of society like priests and bishops," Peter Isely said. Isely, the Midwest director of SNAP, says his organization isn't trying to pick a fight with Prosser for not seeking charges 30 years ago. Instead, SNAP says it wants to use this case as an example of why laws need to be changed to protect victims of both yesterday and today. "For someone who has such a storied career, for him to have been embroiled in this really shows just how deep this problem is," Isely said. While SNAP officials don't excuse Prosser for not filing charges against Feeney, they say his reasoning behind the decision was indicative of the times -- a time when Prosser said no one would convict a priest. Now SNAP hopes Justice Prosser will help right what it says was a wrong. "If justice couldn't happen in the past, which is now being amply illustrated, not just in Justice Prosser's case, I've mentioned other cases around the state, if it couldn't happen in the past it doesn't mean it can't happen now," Isely said. "What we're saying now is, thank you for acknowledging at least what we always knew. Now it's time to change it, so let's change the law," Isely said. The law Isely referred to is the Child Victims Act. It would open up the period of time so any victim of sexual abuse would be able to file charges, regardless of the statute of limitations.
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