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	SNAP Press Release: Former Toledo Priest Subject of Search Warrant Pokrov December 3, 2009 http://pokrov.org/display.asp?ds=Article&id=1191 Police in Houston believe defrocked clergyman in possession of child pornography Support group commends the citizens who came forward and the peace officer who followed through Due to volume of materials seized, investigation expected to extend into next year SNAP urges anyone with additional information to contact the Houston PD A support group for people who were sexually abused by priests has learned that a former Toledo area clergyman was the subject of a search warrant in Houston, Texas, following a tip provided by two concerned citizens. SNAP, the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, recently became aware that a search warrant was executed on the home, business and person of the former Archimandrite Gabriel Barrow on September 9, 2009. The affidavit accompanying the warrant alleged that Barrow was in possession of child pornography. A copy of the warrant, which includes the supporting affidavit, as well as a list of the items seized, is linked above. ”I am so proud of the young men, including one survivor, who provided information to the Houston Police Department, said Cappy Larson of San Francisco, California. Larson is the co-founder of SNAP Orthodox. ”It’s not everyday that you find concerned citizens who is willing to go the extra mile to help protect kids.” Larson also commended the Houston Police Department, Juvenile Sex Crimes/Houston Area Cyber Crimes Task Force (FBI), especially Officer John Barnes, for their efforts in this case. ”Officer Barnes took the tipsters’ information and ran with it,” said Larson. Barrow was serving at St. Elias Church in Sylvania, Ohio in the mid to late 1970s when he was suspended by the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America in the wake of credible charges that he had sexually abused teenaged boys. In the mid-1990s Barrow was received into the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, and began serving at St. John the Theologian Greek Orthodox Church in Webster, Texas. When victims from Toledo discovered that the priest was again serving in a parish, they brought the matter to church court. The clergyman was suspended from the priesthood in 2004, and defrocked the following year. Larson urged anyone who has additional information about Barrow to contact Officer Barnes at 281-957-5179. Larson stressed that victims can also contact SNAP, the nation’s oldest and largest support group for survivors of clergy sexual abuse. ”We let victims know they are no longer alone, that they are supported no matter how they choose to start their healing journey, and that despite the pain, there is hope,” said Larson. SNAP has a nation-wide toll-free hotline, 1 877 SNAP HEALS. The organization's web site is SNAPnetwork.org
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