MISSOURI
Bilgrimage
William D. Lindsey
The SNAP website has a good media statement from last week addressing the unprecedented demand in two Missouri cities, Kansas City and St. Louis, that SNAP open its files to the scrutiny of lawyers hired by Catholic officials to defend priests accused of sex crimes with minors. As the press release notes, a judge has just unsealed the six-hour deposition that David Clohessy of SNAP was required to make in Kansas City recently, and it will be uploaded to the SNAP site when it’s available.
The media statement also notes that the demands for disclosure being made in both Kansas City and St. Louis are sweeping, and represent an entirely new tactic in the Catholic hierarchy’s battle to defend priests accused of sex crimes against children. SNAP is not involved in either of the suits in which these demands are being made, and Catholic officials are demanding access to private communications involving thousands of individuals who have never met either of the parties in the two lawsuits for which disclosure is being demanded, and who have nothing at all to do with either case.
SNAP’s conclusion about what’s going on (and this conclusion is echoed in the National Catholic Reporter editorial supporting SNAP to which the second link above points):
It’s a cynical, shrewd legal maneuver to deter victims, witnesses, whistleblowers, police, prosecutors, journalists and others from exposing predators, protecting kids and seeking help from SNAP.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.