ILLINOIS
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
For immediate release: Monday, May 4
Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests ( 314 566 9790, SNAPclohessy@aol.com )
Spriingfield’s Catholic bishop is using church funds to pay the legal fees for a credibly accused and permanently removed predator priest.
We’re glad that, if Bishop Thomas Paprocki keeps his promise, Fr. Robert “Bud” DeGrand won’t ever work in a parish again. But Paprocki has handled this case irresponsibly from the beginning and he continues to do so now.
[SNAP]
We urge Paprocki to
–stop using parishioner donations to buy a lawyer for an ousted pedophile priest
–put notices about Fr. DeGrand and the credible accusations against him on the diocesan website
–do the same with parish bulletins and websites across the diocese
–beg, in each notice, all victims, witnesses and whistleblowers to call police
–visit each church where Fr. DeGrand has worked, making the same plea in person, and
–turn over, to law enforcement agencies in every county where he worked, his personnel file.
Taking these simple, inexpensive and proven prevention steps will boost the chances that Fr. DeGrand could be prosecuted, convicted and kept away from kids.
Taking these steps will also be a way to mitigate the damage caused by Paprocki’s reckless and callous secrecy in this case. He kept the allegations hidden for weeks, giving Fr. DeGrand plenty of time to destroy evidence, intimidate victims, threaten witnesses, discredit whistleblowers, fabricate alibis and even potentially flee the country.
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