Archbishop Must Act on Indicted Priest

SNAP
May 26, 2016

http://www.snapnetwork.org/nj_snap_archbishop_must_act_on_indicted_priest

An admitted New Jersey predator priest has been indicted and now Newark Archbishop John Myers must act. So too must three other prelates who let this child molesting cleric in their dioceses.

[nj.com]

A grand jury indicted Fr. Manuel Gallo Espinoza who has fled to his native Ecuador. Myers must do aggressive outreach to help criminal authorities extradite, prosecute and convict this criminal so that kids will be safer. Myers must also seek out and help others with information or suspicions about this child molesting cleric, using church bulletins, pulpit announcements and parish websites. This weekend, Myers should personally visit the last parish where Fr. Gallo Espinoza worked, begging others who’ve been hurt to step forward, get help and call police.

Maryland Archbishop William Lori, Arlington Bishop Paul Loverde and Equador Bishop Alfredo Jose Espinoza Mateus all let Fr. Gallo Espinoza work in their jurisdictions. They too must do serious outreach.

We applaud the bravery and persistence of Max Rojaz Ramirez, who was assaulted by this pedophile priest and is working hard to safeguard other kids from him. Max is a true hero.

No matter what law enforcement 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 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.

(SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the world’s oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. SNAP was founded in 1988 and has more than 22,000 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, davidgclohessy@gmail.com), Barbara Dorris (314-503-0003 cell, bdorris@SNAPnetwork.org), Mark Crawford, SNAP New Jersey Director, 732-632-7687, mecrawf@comcast.net)

Ex-priest indicted in sexual assault of 15-year-old boy

by Mark Mueller | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

on May 25, 2016 at 6:12 PM, updated May 25, 2016 at 7:52 PM

A former Union County priest who admitted to NJ Advance Media last year he sexually assaulted a 15-year-old boy was indicted by a grand jury Wednesday in connection with the attack.

Manuel Gallo Espinoza, 52, fled to his native Ecuador in 2003 after his victim told another priest and a nun that the clergyman raped him in the rectory of a Plainfield church that year.

A criminal investigation at the time quickly went dormant. The investigation was reopened after . . .