Confidential SNAP Memo Reveals Founder Barbara Blaine Admits Writing Letter on Behalf of Doc Busted with Kiddie Porn, Outlines Plan for Cover-up

Media Report
May 30, 2013

http://www.themediareport.com/2013/05/30/barbara-blaine-exclusive-snap-founder/

SNAP's founder and president Barbara Blaine

According to a tip received by TheMediaReport.com, Barbara Blaine, the founder and president of the anti-Catholic group SNAP, has admitted that she wrote a letter on behalf of a Louisiana psychologist, Dr. Steve Taylor, who was arrested and jailed on charges of possessing over 100 images of kiddie porn.

In 2009, when the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners was considering revoking the license of Dr. Taylor following his arrest for child pornography, Blaine wrote a letter to the board and explained that Taylor had founded a local chapter of SNAP and had done extensive work for the group. She then begged that the board "refrain from taking any action on this case until Dr. Taylor's guilt or innocence is determined in a court of law."

Taylor later pleaded guilty to the kiddie porn charges and was sentenced to prison for his crimes.

While Bruce Nolan at the Times-Picayune (Louisiana) newspaper first reported that Blaine had sent a letter to the state board on behalf of Taylor, SNAP has steadfastly refused to publicly acknowledge its existence. However, thanks to a tip to this site, the letter and Blaine's subsequent defense of the letter are finally public.

According to our tip, Blaine made the admission about her letter on behalf of Taylor in a lengthy internal 2012 memo issued by her and National Director David Clohessy to concerned leaders of SNAP's local chapters across the country who were troubled by the fact their leader had written a letter in support of a man arrested for a kiddie porn crime. In the memo, Blaine defended her decision to write the letter and her refusal to publicly acknowledge writing it.

Barbara Blaine's iron fist

A number of regional leaders at SNAP were apparently angry that the leader of a sex abuse victims group had written a letter on behalf of a person who had been arrested with sexually explicit pictures of children on his computer.

Some SNAP leaders had begun to ask that Blaine "apologize" or "explain" her decision to write the letter, with some people actually demanding that she resign over it.

And shockingly, according to our tip, after a SNAP leader wrote a measured and heartfelt email requesting that Blaine publicly apologize for writing her letter, Blaine promptly expelled the leader.

The rank hypocrisy

Busted for kiddie porn: Dr. Steve Taylor

From SNAP's memo it is clear that Blaine intended and expected that her letter on behalf of Taylor was to remain secret.

"Barbara was told the letter would remain private," the memo explains. "Obviously, for reasons we don't know, that didn't happen."

In other words, Blaine wrote a letter on behalf of a guy arrested with a large cache of kiddie porn expecting that no one would find out about it.

Yet ever since its inception, SNAP has repeatedly blasted Catholic officials for their alleged "secrecy" and "privacy" in their handling of cases decades ago involving alleged abuse by priests.

The hypocrisy could not be more clear: Secrecy for SNAP, but full transparency for the Catholic Church.

SNAP's cover-up – exposed

Astonishingly, Blaine's and Clohessy's memo lays out a plan to keep any knowledge of Blaine's shocking letter on behalf of Taylor out of the public realm.

Blaine and Clohessy issue a recommendation to SNAP chapter leaders and members about what they should do if they receive inquiries about Blaine's letter, and the pair's recommendation is simple and straightforward: Say nothing. Do nothing.

"As harsh as this may sound, we'd recommend that you not respond," the memo advises.

Again, SNAP's rank hypocrisy is blinding. Just days ago, SNAP's Clohessy published a blog post in which he upbraided Church officials for their alleged "increased silence" about decades-old claims and the frequency with which some dioceses respond with "no comment" in the media.

Yet Blaine and Clohessy are here advising their members to cover up SNAP's own letter to a government authority to go easy on a consumer of kiddie porn.

A call to SNAP for honesty and transparency

In truth, Blaine's letter simply asked that the Board of Medicine to hold off on the decision over Taylor's medical license until his criminal case had been decided. In her mind, an accused friend is innocent until proven guilty and should be entitled to a presumption of innocence with respect to his professional status.

However, if SNAP had ever discovered that a Catholic bishop had recently written a similar letter on behalf of an accused priest, its response would be explosive. And mainstream media outlets like the New York Times, the Boston Globe, and the Los Angeles Times would no doubt be running screaming headlines about a bishop "endangering the welfare of children" by "covering up" and "defending" the crimes of an abusive priest. Media calls for the bishop to resign would be deafening.

Barbara Blaine and David Clohessy should now publicly apologize for their secret, hypocritical acts. And if they are unwilling to conduct themselves by the same standards to which they hold others, then they should both resign.