Minister Guilty of Abuse Should Be Locked up for Long Time

SNAP
October 9, 2014

http://www.snapnetwork.org/va

Statement by Becky Ianni, Virginia director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (703 801 6044, SNAPvirgania@cox.net)

We urge a Virginia judge to give the maximum sentence to a minister who was just found guilty of child sex crimes. Kids are safest when child molesters are imprisoned. It’s not about punishment, it’s about prevention. It’s not about vengeance, it’s about prudence.

[roanoke.com]

[thenews-gazette.com]

Yesterday, a jury found Rev. Larry McKinley Clark of Pentecostal Outreach Church of Buena Vista guilty on all counts. We applaud police and prosecutors for successfully pursuing this predator. Above all, however, we applaud the courageous family that cooperated with them to make others safer.

We cannot say this often or loudly enough: this brave teen and his family heroes for exposing wrongdoing and protecting others. Though they have a long, hard road ahead, we are confident that this outcome will help them in their recovery.

We hope and believe this outcome will prod others who have been hurt by ministers, priests, nuns, deacons, seminarians and other church employees to get help, come forward, expose wrongdoers and protect 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)