WASHINGTON
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
Victims challenge archbishop on three priests
All are “credibly accused” child molesters, they say
None of them have been exposed before in Seattle
Two of them still live in the state; one is deceased
One fathered four kids with Alaskan native women
Another was deemed “unsuitable for the priesthood”
But church officials tell no one about him, group charges
SNAP: “Archbishop should come clean and post all predators’ names”
WHAT
Holding signs and childhood photos at a sidewalk news conference, clergy sex abuse victims and their supporters will disclose – for the first time in the Seattle area – the names of three credibly accused predator priests who worked in the Seattle Catholic archdiocese, including
–one who was deemed “unsuitable for the priesthood” by a church abuse panel,
–one who admits fathering four kids, visiting prostitutes and exploiting 7 Alaskan village women, and
–a third who was “outed” by church officials & was transferred often throughout five states.
Two of them still live in Washington (Seattle & Spokane) and none have been defrocked.
The group will also prod Seattle’s archbishop to
–explain why he’s kept silent about the three alleged predators, and
–permanently post on his church websites the names, photos, whereabouts and work histories of ALL the child molesting clerics who have worked in the Seattle archdiocese.
WHEN
Monday, March 24 at 1:00 p.m.
WHERE
On the sidewalk outside the Seattle Catholic archdiocesan headquarters (“chancery”) 710 9th Ave (corner of Cherry St.) in downtown Seattle
WHO
Three-four members of a support group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, including a Missouri woman who is the organization’s long time outreach director
WHY
SNAP is worried about three credibly accused predator priests who worked in the Seattle archdiocese but have not been locally identified as alleged molesters. Two of them are alive.
1) In 2004, a Seattle archdiocesan abuse panel found Fr. Harold Francis Quigg “unsuitable for the priesthood” because of credible allegations of his “egregious” sexual abuse of a then-17 year old in Washington. But for a decade, Seattle archdiocesan officials kept the accusations against Fr. Quigg hidden from the public and let him stay among unsuspecting parishioners.
Their rationalization at the time of his offense was, church rules said that 16 year olds were considered adults. (The ‘age of consent’ has since been raised to age 18.) But the abuse panel said it “would have found that there was sufficient evidence to support the allegation that this priest was involved in the sexual abuse of a minor if the current age of consent law (18 years old) was in place at that time of this event.”
(Copies of the church report will be provided.” Archdiocesan chancellor Dennis O’Leary is familiar with the case. Members of the abuse panel include Lucy Berliner (of the Harborview Center), Joan Cole Duffell (of the Seattle-based Committee for Children), Deacon Michael Riggio (of the Catholic Seafarer’s Center), Mary Ellen Stone, and Fr. Michael Tyrrell.
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