Snap: Child Molesting Crisis Not over, by Charlie Butts, One News Now, May 18, 2011

Snap: Child Molesting Crisis Not over

By Charlie Butts
One News Now
May 18, 2011

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Church/Default.aspx?id=1349560

A Roman Catholic bishops' report on priests molesting children is facing criticism from a group that believes the study fails to show that children are still at risk.

Barbara Dorris, spokesperson for the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP), says the report has a number of flaws, as the five-year study concludes the crisis was unforeseeable and that child molesters could not be detected. But Dorris believes the concern should be how the church deals with the issue once the abuse has occurred.

"We feel the bishops have hidden, protected, shielded and enabled the predators to continue to molest; we feel that is the greatest failing," she laments. "They have failed to take action when they have had credible allegations of child sexual abuse."

Moreover, she says, the report does not indicate a need for change in the bishop's approach, but suggests the abuse stems from the priests' poor training, though that has not changed much. Also, the bishops suggest the priests were under stress during social and sexual changes in the 1960s and 70s, and they argue that the priests mainly molested children who had already been through puberty.

"That's splitting hairs and it's sort of a silly distinction," Dorris contends. "Does it matter if the child is 12 or 13? It's a child; it's a crime and it's wrong."

The five-year study conducted by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice further implies the crisis is over, but the SNAP spokesperson points out 37 priests are still in ministry, even though a Philadelphia grand jury in February ruled there were credible allegations against them. Twenty-six have been suspended, but Dorris argues that is not an isolated situation, and children are still at risk.