David Clohessy didn’t get anywhere near what he asked for, but he has settled his long-running abuse complaint with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Jefferson City.

In a news release Thursday, Clohessy said he received $40,000 and had to promise never to sue the diocese again. He had asked for $200,000.

In a separate news release, the diocese said Bishop John Gaydos “wrote Mr. Clohessy to extend to him an apology for the abuse that he reported,” and the diocese confirmed it paid an undisclosed amount to Clohessy “to help him with his needs for healing.” Clohessy, who now lives in St. Louis, is the national director of SNAP — the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests — and has said often he was abused in the late 1960s and early ’70s, when he was 12 to 16 years old, by Father John Whiteley at St. Pius X Catholic Church in Moberly.

He said he wrote then-Bishop Michael McAuliffe twice but received “very cold, terse and unhelpful replies.”

Clohessy filed a lawsuit in 1991, as “John Z. Doe,” against Whitely and the diocese.

In a 1993 state Supreme Court ruling in the case, Clohessy said “he was intimidated into silence because of his trust in Whiteley, his belief that Whiteley was a close family friend, his perception of Whiteley’s greater physical strength, and his young age. He also alleges that the abuse caused him to repress the incidents so that he was unable to know or perceive that he was a victim of sexual abuse or that he suffered injuries from that abuse.”

Clohessy said he began to realize in 1987 that Whiteley had abused him, but it wasn’t until December 1989 after therapy that he began to connect his physical and emotional injuries to the acts of abuse.

But the Missouri Supreme Court agreed with the Cole County circuit court that the statute of limitations had passed, and it was too late for him to sue.

Clohessy got involved in SNAP’s often controversial efforts of helping victims name priests who have been accused — but not convicted — of abusing boys and girls, and of complaining regularly that church officials failed to stop the abuse and protect the children.

In his news release Thursday, Clohessy reported he again contacted the Jefferson City Diocese last November about the effects of betrayal he suffered under Whiteley.

The diocese reported it placed Whiteley on leave in 1991 after it became aware of abuse allegations, and he has not ministered in the diocese since.

Clohessy reported meeting in January with two church employees, Sister Kathleen Wegman and Mike Berendzen, and asked the Jefferson City Diocese to post the names of “proven, admitted and credibly accused child molesting clerics” on parish websites, and to warn Catholics in Florida about Whiteley, who now lives in Naples.

Clohessy said he also asked for $200,000, to pay for his therapy and medical expenses over the years.

When he got his $40,000 check last week, he said no note was included with the check, but he had to sign a release form forbidding him from any future lawsuit against the diocese. In a follow-up email to the diocese, Clohessy said he had found a note that accompanied the check.

“I asked Bishop John Gaydos for half a dozen steps to protect kids and warn others about Jeff City predator priests but was completely rebuffed,” Clohessy said in the news release. “I’ve spent way more than $40,000 on therapy alone.

“Still, I’m grateful.”

But he also remains hurt by his years of fighting with church officials.

“In nearly 30 years, I don’t recall ever getting so much as a Christmas card from any of the hundreds of Catholic employees of Jeff City parishes,” Clohessy said. “They could have kept on ignoring me, as they’ve done for decades, but at least Mike did respond when I emailed him.”

When he learned last year that Whiteley was living in Florida, Clohessy said he called and alerted the Naples police department.

“Of course, like tens of thousands of other clergy sex abuse victims, I worry that my perpetrator may be molesting kids right now,” Clohessy said. “He could be tutoring kids in his home or volunteering at a school. That’s why I pushed Gaydos to use his tremendous resources to warn others about him.”

The diocese said it is “not aware of any complaints of abuse involving Father Whiteley occurring after he was placed on leave” in 1991.

And the campaigns by Clohessy and others have led to changes, according to Dan Joyce, the diocese’s communications director.

“The diocese is proud of the activities it sponsors to protect children,” he reported. “Since 2003, it has conducted nearly 600 child protection classes for adults, providing 13,000 employees and volunteers in our diocese with the education needed to help keep children safe.

“The training provides education on child sexual abuse, five steps adults can take to protect children, and what to do when abuse is suspected.”

He said the diocese urges any abuse victims of church officials to contact local law enforcement as well as Berendzen, the diocesan review administrator.