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	Complaints of Abuse by Erie Episcopal Bishop Rise to at Least 9 By Dana Massing Erie Times-News July 14, 2010 http://www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100714/NEWS02/307139915 Women have come forward this week to say they were victims of an Episcopal bishop, raising the number of sexual abuse complaints against the Rev. Donald Davis to at least nine. The Right Rev. Sean Rowe, current bishop of the Erie-based Episcopal Diocese of Northwestern Pennsylvania, announced Sunday that Davis had sexually abused four girls when they were around age 10. The abuse occurred in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Davis was bishop of the diocese from 1974 to 1991. He died in 2007 in Florida. Rowe asked other victims to contact him at 456-4203 or bishop@dionwpa.org. In a two-paragraph statement released Tuesday, Rowe said he has heard from "a number of women" who wanted to tell him their stories. "I do not think that it would be appropriate to disclose the exact number of women who have so far come forward, but in the interest of transparency I want to acknowledge that I now know about the possibility of more than five additional complaints," Rowe said. "In the days to come, I may hear from more. All of these women are in my prayers, and I ask that you include them in yours." Rowe said he is going to spend the next several weeks talking with women who contact him and "working with them on how best to foster their healing and reconciliation. At the end of the summer, or sooner if needed, I will update the people of the diocese and the public about our progress." He would not reveal details about the nature of the abuse or the victims, citing their privacy. One of the women, who e-mailed Rowe on Monday to tell him that Davis forcibly French kissed her in a pool when she was 10, also had contacted the Erie Times-News. The newspaper has a policy not to identify victims of sexual assault. The woman said she was glad that the diocese now has a bishop who is "owning up to" the abuse by Davis. Rowe apologized for what Davis did and said it was made public because that was important for the healing process. Rowe, who became bishop in 2007, has said he learned of the sexual abuse when a victim called him in March. He then launched an investigation. He said he wasn't able to determine who learned of the abuse at the time it happened. But he said some church leaders, including his immediate predecessor, Bishop Robert Rowley, who died in January, knew about the abuse as early as 1993. In a statement also released Tuesday, Barbara Dorris, outreach director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, called for those in the Episcopal Church hierarchy who "kept these crimes secret" to be identified and punished. S.N.A.P. is a support group for clergy abuse victims. DANA MASSING can be reached at 870-1729 or by e-mail. Contact: dana.massing@timesnews.com
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