Church Pays $40k to Settle Abuse Claims Involving Priest with Naples Ties

By Ryan Mills
Naples Daily News
September 3, 2015

http://www.naplesnews.com/news/crime/church-pays-40k-to-settle-abuse-claims-involving-priest-with-naples-ties_65047485

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A St. Louis man who accused a Catholic priest with Naples ties of sexually abusing him received a $40,000 settlement from a Missouri diocese last month.

The check, from the Catholic Diocese of Jefferson City, was issued to David Clohessy on Aug. 19. Clohessy, 58, is the director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, an advocacy group based in Chicago. He accused the Rev. John J. Whiteley Jr. of sexually abusing him in the mid-to-late 1960s.

Whiteley, who has not served as an active priest since the early 1990s, lived for years in Collier County, most recently in the Naples Mobile Home Park off U.S. 41 North in Naples. However, neighbors and a park staff member said Whiteley recently sold his trailer and moved to the Miami area.

Attempts to reach Whiteley for comment were unsuccessful Thursday. He has never been charged with or convicted of a crime in this case.