VIRGINIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
For immediate release: Thursday, Aug. 11, 2016
Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 566 9790, 314 645 5915 home, davidgclohessy@gmail.com)
A priest accused of abusing in Virginia has been “outed” as an alleged predator in Pennsylvania this week. We call on Richmond Catholic officials and parishioners to aggressively reach out to anyone who may have been hurt by the cleric.
An investigation by the York PA Daily Record found that “(Fr.) John Bostwick III was accused in 1996 of abuse that allegedly took place from 1980-82. . . The Harrisburg diocese said it contacted the Diocese of Richmond (Va.), where Bostwick was in 1996, and he was removed from ministry.”
As best we in SNAP can tell, the allegations against Fr. Bostwick have never been publicly disclosed in Virginia and they were revealed only one other time, in 1996 in Louisiana:
So we firmly believe that Richmond Bishop Francis DiLorenzo, Harrisburg Bishop Ronald Gainer, Lafayette LA Bishop Douglas Deshotel are putting kids in harm’s way by continuing to hide the names and whereabouts of predator priests. So are other church employees and members in these three dioceses. Shame on them.
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