ST. LOUIS (MO)
Riverfront Times
By Sam Levin Mon., Jul. 29 2013
The sex abuse allegations against Father Xiu Hui “Joseph” Jiang received renewed attention this month with St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson facing a subpoena and church leaders facing a lawsuit from the accuser’s family. As the criminal investigation and legal complaint move forward, a group of Jiang supporters have emerged, most recently launching a website to defend the local priest.
“We believe in Father Joseph’s innocence,” says Lucy Hannegan, who created the Friends of Fr. Joseph Jiang website. “We don’t want to see him tried and convicted in the court of public opinion.”
Victims’ advocates, however, are slamming this public defense of Jiang as an irresponsible campaign that is damaging and offensive to the accuser and her family.
Jiang has been on administrative leave from his position as an associate pastor at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis since allegations first surfaced last year. Jiang is accused of repeatedly molesting a teenage girl in her home and victims’ groups say Carlson tried to cover it up. The lawsuit filed earlier this month alleges that Jiang admitted the abuse to Carlson and tried to pay the family to keep quiet. The complaint also says that Carlson and Jiang were very close and that the archbishop attempted to tamper with evidence by asking the family to give back Jiang’s payments. …
David Clohessy, executive director of SNAP, points to the fact that Archdiocese officials did remove Osborne’s priestly authority.
“If people think Osborne is innocent, they need to take it up with church officials, not us,” Clohessy says.
Of the continued effort to defend Jiang, he says, “It’s just so difficult for people to believe that a man who treated them nicely can be a monster to others.”
“Child molesters don’t have forked tongues and devil horns,” he says. “They are almost all…without exception charismatic.”
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