Catholic Teacher Arrested on Child Sex Charges

SNAP
September 15, 2014

http://www.snapnetwork.org/ms

For immediate release: Monday, Sept. 15

Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 566 9790, SNAPclohessy@aol.co, davidgclohessy@gmail.com)

A veteran Catholic teacher, Richard Pryor, has been indicted for allegedly molesting students on out of state trips. Our hearts ache for these 11 boys and their families.

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We applaud every person who has cooperated or is cooperating with this investigation. But this is exactly the kind of crime that Catholic bishops assure us can't happen. For more than a dozen years, they've pledged to not let priests, teachers and other staff alone with children. We urge Biloxi Bishop Roger Morin to explain how this happened.

We also urge Bishop Morin to

--emphatically and repeatedly beg anyone who may have seen, suspected or suffered Pryor's crimes to call police and

–personally visit every school where Pryor worked, making the same plea.

If kids are to be safer and predators are to be convicted, it's crucial that Catholic employees aggressively seek out anyone with suspicions about or knowledge of Pryor's crimes. Passively sitting back and letting these victimized kids and their families carry the full burden of prosecuting Pryor is callous and irresponsible.

It's our civic and moral duty to help police and prosecutors keep predators away from kids.

(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 25 years and have more than 18,000 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 314-566-9790 cell, SNAPclohessy@aol.com

Barbara Dorris 314-503-0003 cell, SNAPdorris@gmail.com