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	Clergy Abuse Victims Welcome Probe & Blast Catholic Officials SNAP August 19, 2011 http://www.snapnetwork.org/snap_statements/2011_statements/081911_clergy_abuse_victims_welcome_probe_blast_catholic_officials.htm Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Executive Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (+1-314-566-9790, SNAPclohessy@aol.com) The death of so many children in just a couple of years is obviously very suspicious. We are grateful that an investigation is happening, but disappointed that authorities are already assuming no prosecutions will result and that church officials are claiming they’re “cooperating.” For secular authorities: We understand that the passage of time is problematic and that laws vary radically from nation to nation. Still, in our twenty-three years, we’ve seen that in many situations, “where there’s a will, there’s a way.” In the face of horrific crimes and cover ups, many law enforcement officials have been able to find novel ways to pursue criminal cases against at least some of the wrongdoers, even if some of the specific charges may have to be or seem to be lesser charges. In other words, even if a child predator can’t be prosecuted for molesting a child, they sometimes can be prosecuted for other offenses, like child porn, child endangerment, threatening witnesses, destroying evidence, or impeding investigations. For church figures, claiming to “cooperate” with investigations is smart public relations. But it’s usually meaningless, because church officials almost always respond only when forced to do so by subpoena. And church officials rarely do what is most helpful: use their considerable resources to actively encourage victims, witnesses and whistleblowers to step forward and call police. So we call on Catholic officials to use pulpit, website and parish bulletin announcements – and news conferences and news releases – to aggressively seek out anyone who may have information about these suspicious deaths, and encourage them to find the courage to speak up. (SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the world’s oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. We’ve been around for 23 years and have more than 10,000 members. Despite the word “priest” in our title, we have members who were molested by religious figures of all denominations, including nuns, rabbis, bishops, and Protestant ministers. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org) Contact - David Clohessy (+1-314-566-9790 cell, SNAPclohessy@aol.com), Barbara Blaine (+1-312-399-4747, SNAPblaine@gmail.com), Peter Isely (+1-414-429-7259, peterisely@yahoo.com), Barbara Dorris (+1-314-862-7688 home, +1-314-503-0003 cell, SNAPdorris@gmail.com) http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i2m3GpG82RAh5WZ2vi6M8hk--sCg?docId=dec5314ac59d44ea8ccad0389670361f New probe into Dutch Catholic institute deaths By TOBY STERLING, Associated Press – 1 hour ago AMSTERDAM (AP) — A Dutch Catholic institute for disabled girls said Thursday it will review 40 deaths at the children's home in the early 1950s. The review comes days after prosecutors began a criminal investigation into 34 deaths at a former Catholic boys' institute in the same town and the same time period. The mysterious rash of deaths in the two children's homes nearly 60 years ago came to light during a search of Catholic church archives by a commission investigating possible sexual abuse. There is no evidence that the unusual number of deaths over a three-year period in the small southern town of Heel was ever investigated for common threads or links to each other. Guus Feron, director of the St. Anna's girls institute, said his organization will scour its archives for information about the girls, though he was unsure of what might be found. The institute routinely destroyed dossiers 15 years after residents left or died. "We thought, gosh, there's so much attention to this, we should have a look at our archives," Feron told The Associated Press by telephone. He said one possibility would be finding records of a contagious illness. Eugene Baak, spokesman for the regional public prosecutor's office, said the girls' deaths are not currently thought to be suspicious, despite the higher numbers. "Those numbers have been presented without any context," he said. But he couldn't rule out a criminal investigation if new information is discovered. Baak said the investigating commission tipped his office with "specific information" that the death rate at St. Joseph's boys institute spiked sharply to more than 10 per year in 1952-1954, while only one or two died in the years before and afterward. Dutch media have reported that the priest who oversaw the sick ward of St. Joseph's during those years was dismissed abruptly after a complaint by a doctor. Baak would not confirm that, or reports that the priest was then transferred to another Catholic institution in Belgium. The priest has not been identified publicly. Feron said that although the absolute number of deaths at St. Anna's was higher, the number of women and girls housed there was also higher — around 1,000 compared with 400 boys at St. Joseph's. So the death rate was lower in percentage terms, and more stable. Both institutions were for the mentally handicapped, though the girls at St. Anna's often were younger and had more serious health problems, he said. Thea de Boer, whose twin sisters died at St. Anna's, said it was too early to draw conclusions, "but I do find it damned suspicious." She said in an interview on NOS television that the family had been told at the time that one of the twins died of a lung infection, and she couldn't remember about the other sister. "That's what they said. You could wonder about whether it's really true," she said, hoping for a thorough investigation soon. St. Joseph's was closed in 1969. Successor organizations of both institutions retain links with the church, but are not staffed by priests or nuns. Prosecutors said that even if they find evidence of crimes at St. Joseph's, they are unlikely to be prosecuted due to the passage of time. Suspects may have died, and statutes of limitations apply to crimes other than murder. They said they have informed the dead boys' next of kin when they could be tracked down and were still alive. The Roermond Diocese, which oversees Heel, said it welcomed the investigations, in line with an openness policy in the wake of sex abuse revelations that have rocked the church around the world in recent years. The commission that uncovered the deaths in Heel is conducting a church-funded investigation into some 2,000 sex abuse allegations in the Netherlands. It is expected to present its final report by year's end.
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