BishopAccountability.org
	Duo Warns Parishioners of Sex Abuse By Joseph Bustos Northwest Herald August 9 2010 http://www.nwherald.com/articles/2010/08/08/r_cr3r0ka3t3a8vp6atuv3hw/ Standing in the wind and rain for 45 minutes in front of St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church, Sandy Stilling-Seehausen of Cary and Therese Albrecht of Steger handed out fliers about a former priest who they said lived in the area. Stilling-Seehausen is president of Chicagoland Voice of the Faithful, and Albrecht is a member of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. They wanted to warn people about defrocked priest Mark Campobello as they left services Sunday at St. Thomas at the corner of Oak Street and Route 176. In 2000, Campobello was assigned to St. Thomas as a priest, but served for less than a year. Campobello pleaded guilty in 2004 to abusing two teenage girls he taught at the high school while serving as a priest in Geneva. He was given a four-year prison sentence and first was placed on parole in February 2008. He returned to prison twice for violating his parole, including most recently in April 2009. He has been expelled from the Roman Catholic priesthood. Campobello was released from prison last month. He has lived in Crystal Lake, but according to the Illinois Sex Offender website, Campobello now lives in Aurora. When Stilling-Seehausen and Albrecht arrived at the church, they began handing out fliers as parishioners came and went between Masses. They later were asked to move by police closer to the street onto the public right of way. “We’re concerned about children in the area,” Stilling-Seehausen said. Monsignor Dan Hermes has been pastor at St. Thomas for nine years. He said the Catholic Church has done a lot to protect children in response to the priest sexual abuse scandal that rocked the church. Among the precautions are having all of its priests, nuns, church volunteers and employees go through background checks and training to protect young people. “A church is the safest environment for children, especially after all we’ve done in response,” Hermes said. Albrecht was abused by a priest when she was between the ages of 8 and 11 years old. “No one protected me when I was a kid,” Albrecht said. Stilling-Seehausen said she thought there were a lot more priests who had allegations against them of sexual abuse. Whenever there is an allegation, the priest should be removed from ministry immediately and allegations investigated by an independent body, Stilling-Seehausen said. “When in doubt, err on the side of caution, when it comes to protecting kids,” Albrecht said. Contact: jbustos@nwherald.com
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.