OR--Portland predator priest is guilty; Victims respond

By Barbara Dorris
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
May 11, 2016

http://www.snapnetwork.org/or--portland_predator_priest_is_guilty_victims_respond

An Oregon priest is guilty of trying to lure a girl into his car. Now, Portland’s archbishop and other Catholic officials must aggressively seek out others who may have experienced or ignored or concealed his crimes. And we hope next month he’s locked up for as long as possible

http://www.columbian.com/news/2016/may/10/priest-guilty-of-trying-to-lure-girl/

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2014/03_04/2014_04_25_Achen_PriestAppears.htm

Fr. Michael T. Patrick left the US after being questioned by police about the accusation. We’re grateful law enforcement officials caught him in Los Angeles. He lives in Vancouver’s Image neighborhood, has worked in Oregon parishes since 1998 (most recently at St. Wenceslaus in Scappoose) and is originally from Sri Lanka.

Archbishop Alexander Sample should use parish bulletins, church websites and pulpit announcements to spread the word about Fr. Patrick and urge anyone with knowledge or fears of his crimes to call police or prosecutors.

Ironically, two months ago, Sample tried to minimize the church’s on-going clergy sex scandal, disingenuously calling it “a tragic chapter in the history of the Church in the United States.”

http://www.snapnetwork.org/or_victims_blast_portland_archbishop_over_spotlight_remarks

(Fr. Patrick is one of 89 publicly accused predator priests in the Portland archdiocese. His picture, and information about these abusive clerics, is at BishopAccountability.org)

No matter what the judge or church officials do or don’t do, we urge every single person who saw, suspected or suffered child sex crimes and cover ups in Catholic churches or institutions to protect kids by calling police, get help by calling therapists, expose wrongdoers by calling law enforcement, get justice by calling attorneys, and be comforted by calling support groups like ours. This is how kids will be safer, adults will recover, criminals will be prosecuted, cover ups will be deterred and the truth will surface.