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	Activists Leaflet Harlem Church, Protest Accused Abuser Msgr. Wallace Harris By Jenny Merkin and Stephanie Gaskell New York Daily News September 14, 2008 http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2008/09/14/2008-09-14_activists_leaflet_harlem_church_protest_.html Parishioners defended a prominent Harlem priest accused of molesting three boys, as two activists passed out flyers Sunday offering help to victims of abuse. Members of the Chicago-based Survival Network for Those Abused by Priests (SNAP) stood outside St. Charles Borromeo Church in Harlem and encouraged anyone who had been abused to come forward. "We want to reach out to anyone who has been hurt and offer them support," SNAP National Director David Clohessy said. Msgr. Wallace Harris, 61, was suspended last month after two unidentified men accused Harris of molesting them 20 years ago when he was a teacher at Cathedral Preparatory Seminary, an upper West Side high school. A third man, retired NYPD Officer Eric Crumbley, 42, later came forward to say he, too, had been sexually abused by Harris when he was a boy. Harris, a popular leader, delivered the invocation at Gov. Paterson's inauguration in March and coordinated Pope Benedict's visit to Yankee Stadium in April. "I think it's disrespectful," said longtime parishioner Laura Landrum Walker, 49. "If you don't support the man, that's your business. But don't come to our church." One churchgoer took a pamphlet - then promptly gave it to a sanitation worker nearby. "Here, have some more trash," she said. Clohessy said he wasn't surprised by the reaction. "When Catholics have their authorities accused, they go right to the defense of the priest, and that's because of the training they've received - Father can do no wrong," he said. The Manhattan district attorney's office said it could not bring charges against Harris because the statute of limitations had run out. A spokesman for the Archdiocese of New York said a panel is reviewing the allegations. Contact: sgaskell@nydailynews.com
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