FLORIDA
Legal Examiner
Posted by Joseph H. Saunders
March 18, 2015
Father Leo P. Riley, a priest working at St. Peter the Apostle church in Naples, Florida has been placed on administrative leave after he was accused of molesting a child while he was an associate pastor at Resurrection Parish in Dubuque, Iowa.
The Archdiocese of Dubuque is investigating the sexual abuse claim against Riley, which is alleged to have occurred in 1985. This investigation comes after the Archdiocese of Dubuque paid $5.2 million to settle sexual abuse claims with 26 people in 2013. It is not known yet whether Riley was part of any of those claims.
Church officials in Iowa are urging anyone with information or suspicions about Fr. Riley to call them. However, David Clohessy , director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, says that contacting the church is wrong. Clohessy urges victims or whistleblowers in Iowa or Florida to call police or prosecutors. SNAP is adamant that child sex crimes should be reported to the independent, unbiased professionals in law enforcement and not to self-serving, biased church bureaucrats.
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