CANADA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
For immediate release: Thursday, July 23, 2015
For more information: Melanie Jula Sakoda of Moraga, California, Orthodox Christian Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (melanie.sakoda@gmail.com, 925-708-6175), Cappy Larson of San Francisco, California, Orthodox Christian Director of SNAP (cappy@rlarson.com, 415-637-2006); David Clohessy of St. Louis, Missouri, Executive Director of SNAP (davidgclohessy@gmail.com, 314-566-9790)
Victims want abusive bishop defrocked
He’s been released early from Canadian prison
SNAP to hierarchs: “Tell public where the molester is now”
Group begs officials to limit his access to kids and parishes
“You have a moral duty to disclose and warn families at risk,” victims say
A Canadian archbishop convicted of child sexual abuse has been released from prison early. A support group for victims wants church officials to defrock him, warn families about him and keep him away from parishes.
Leaders of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, are writing to the bishops of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA) about Archbishop Seraphim Storheim, who was once the church’s highest ranking official in Canada. Storheim was suspended by his synod following his arrest in November of 2010. In January 2014, he was forced into retirement after his conviction for child sexual abuse.
SNAP wants church officials to take the next step and defrock the archbishop. The victims’ group has been urging the OCA to do this since the archbishop’s 2014 conviction.
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.