TX- Sex abuse case vs. TX priest settles

By David Clohessy
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
February 24, 2014

http://www.snapnetwork.org/tx_sex_abuse_case_vs_tx_priest_settles

Pedophile priest worked in Beaumont & Wash. State

A child sex abuse lawsuit against a Catholic priest who worked in Beaumont and may still live in Texas has been settled.

http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/article/Former-Beaumont-priest-named-in-sexual-abuse-2217443.php

Last week, the diocese of Yakima, Washington confirmed that it has resolved a molestation case against Fr. Ernest Dale Calhoun. The diocese agreed to pay the victim $75,000.

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/2-priest-sex-abuse-lawsuits-settled-in-Yakima-246545671.html

A support group for clergy sex abuse victims is urging Beaumont’s Catholic bishop to “aggressively reach out to others who may have seen, suspected or suffered Fr. Calhoun’s crimes.” 

Fr. Calhoun was ordained by the Beaumont Diocese and he faced his first child sex abuse lawsuit in 1988.

According to BishopAccountability.org, Fr. Calhoun's personnel file “shows he should never have been ordained.” In 1969, he raped a 15 year old and was transferred to the Yakima Diocese where he continued to abuse.

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/member/psearch.jsp

“Fr. Calhoun is a serial predator. He was recruited, educated, ordained, trained, transferred and shielded by Catholic officials. So whether he's still in a church or not, it's the duty of Catholic officials to warn families about him and protect kids from him,” said David Clohessy of St. Louis. Clohessy is the director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. 

“Bishop Curtis J. Guillory should use his vast resources – church bulletins, parish websites and pulpit announcements to seek out others with knowledge and suspicions about Fr. Calhoun- and beg them to call police so he might be prosecuted and kept away from children,” said Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, SNAP's outreach director.

SNAP, is the nation’s oldest and largest support group for victims of clergy sexual abuse with support groups in over 60 cities nationwide.