MISSOURI
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
For immediate release: Friday, June 20, 2014
For more information: David Clohessy of St. Louis, SNAP Director (314 566 9790 cell, SNAPclohessy@aol.com
Church lawyer says that priest is defrocked
Victims blast MO bishop for violating church policy
SNAP to Jeff City diocese: “End the continuing secrecy”
Catholic officials let pedophile legally change his name
Then they sent him from NJ to “unsuspecting families” in MO
A lawyer for Catholic church officials disclosed Wednesday that a twice-convicted predator priest who pled guilty this week to sexually assaulting three Missouri boys has been formally defrocked by the Vatican.
A support group for clergy sex abuse victims is blasting Jefferson City Bishop John Gaydos for keeping this news secret for almost two years and begging him to “aggressively seek out” others who may have “seen, suspected or suffered” the cleric’s crimes.
In an email to the director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, attorney Charles Carella of Roseland NJ (973 994 1700, CMCarella@carellabyrne.com) said Fr. Carmen Sita (known in Missouri as Fr. Jerry Howard) was permanently ousted from the priesthood in September of 2012 by then-Pope Benedict. Carella represents the Newark archdiocese, which ordained Sita/Howard.
(Here’s a link to the actual defrocking document:
[SNAP]
“Catholic officials in Missouri callously kept this fact hidden from parents, police, parishioners and the public, which essentially rubbed even more salt into the already-deep wounds of this serial predator’s victims and their families,” said David Clohessy of SNAP. “It would have been a real comfort to many victims and to many concerned Catholics to know that Fr. Howard was off the payroll and kicked out by the Vatican. But instead of sharing this information, Bishop Gaydos hid it.”
SNAP also charges that the bishops’ secrecy “clearly violates the U.S. bishops formal and allegedly binding national abuse policy, which mandates ‘openness and transparency’ in clergy sex abuse cases.”
At least five New Jersey men have settled civil cases stemming from child sexual abuse they say they suffered at the hands of Sita/Howard, according to New Jersey attorney Greg Gianforcaro (908 859 2200 phone, 908 310 4624 cell, gianforcarolaw@msn.com).
At least one former Missouri man has settled a civil case involving Sita/Howard. He is Mark McAllister, who grew up in Boonville, but now lives in Virginia (540 520 8674, macmd@cox.net).
In 1982, Fr. Sita pled guilty in Jersey City to molesting a boy and giving him liquor. Then, Newark Archdiocesan officials let Sita change his name to Gerald “Jerry” Howard and sent him to the Jefferson City Missouri diocese, under then-Bishop Michael McAuliffe. McAuliffe assigned Fr. Howard to Sts. Peter & Paul Catholic parish in Boonville.
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.