ST. LOUIS (MO)
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests
Dec. 4, 2019
Allegations of abuse against a retired priest from the Diocese of Columbus have been found “credible.” We call on Catholic officials to do outreach to other potential victims and to explain why the allegation was not found “credible” when it was first reported, despite the fact that the cleric was “retired” and barred from ministry.
Fr. David Schilder was first accused of abuse in 2004, but Church officials from the Dicoese of Columbus did not find the allegations “credible.” Making matters worse, they turned the allegations over to local children services instead of law enforcement officials. Interestingly, when another allegation was reported to the diocese in September, Catholic officials this time properly routed the allegations to the police.
Reporting allegations to the wrong agency is something that Catholic officials have done elsewhere. The practice conveniently lets them say that they “immediately reported the allegations,” despite the fact that the information went to an agency that is designed to investigate currently ongoing claims of abuse, not historical ones.
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.