MICHIGAN
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
For immediate release: Wednesday, March 18
Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, 314 566 9790, SNAPclohessy@aol.com
A Saginaw native and ex-Greek Orthodox priest has been found guilty of sexual abuse in Maine, some 30 years after having committed similar crimes in Michigan. We’re grateful that he’s been caught but now the focus shifts to his church former colleagues and supervisors in Michigan and Maine.
[WGME]
A Maine newspaper reports that Adam Metropoulos “was convicted in Michigan in 1983 of second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor under the age of 13, according to Saginaw court records.” And yesterday, a judge found him guilty on four counts of child sex crimes in Bangor.
These church officials have a moral and civic duty to aggressively reach out now to anyone who may have seen, suspected or suffered child sex crimes by Metropoulos or cover ups by his ex-colleagues or superiors. All too often, church officials recruit, educate, ordain, hire, and train clergy, giving them vast authority over and access to vulnerable families and kids. When one of those clerics is caught abusing, church officials immediately distance themselves from him or her and do little or nothing to help law enforcement charge or convict them.
Metropoulos will soon be sentenced. That sentence should be based on as much information as possible. And getting more information about his crimes is possible if only his ex-colleagues and supervisors take immediate steps to find others he may have hurt. They should use church bulletins, parish websites, and pulpit announcements to beg anyone with suspicions or information about Metropoulos to step forward immediately.
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