UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
POSTED BY DAVID CLOHESSY ON JUNE 10, 2013
Victims: “No response from church officials yet”
Thousands of Baptists will meet this week in Houston
Group has asked to speak to convention about abuse
Abuse survivors deplore “rallying around” alleged predators
It wants Baptist church officials to train their staff and flocks
Baptist officials have not responded yet to clergy sex abuse victims who have asked to speak to this week to thousands of Baptists in Houston. The victims want to discuss how church staff and members respond when allegations of clergy sex crimes and cover ups surface.
Last week, leaders of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, wrote officials with the Southern Baptist Convention hoping for a chance to address their annual convention which begins tomorrow. SNAP leaders say that congregants and clergy often “immediately and publicly rally for an accused child molester instead of keeping an open mind and urging anyone with information to come forward.” Then, SNAP contends, “Victims, witnesses and whistleblowers are frightened or depressed and stay silent. And as a result, all too often, those who commit and conceal child sex crimes walk free, remain hidden, and hurt others.”
The group cites three congregations at which it says church employees or board members publicly rallied or are rallying behind accused wrongdoers: Prestonwood Baptist Church in Texas, Sovereign Grace Ministries in Maryland, and The Richmond Outreach Center in Virginia.
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