UNITED STATES
Christian Times
CB Condez
21 APRIL, 2016
A survivor of sexual abuse is going to take legal action against a diocese in India for reinstating the priest that sexually assaulted her when she was a teenager.
According to New York Daily News, Minnesota attorney Jeff Anderson, the legal counsel of abuse victim Megan Peterson, will be filing a case against the Diocese of Ootacamund. Peterson believes that letting the offender, Joseph Palanivel Jeyapaul, go back to priesthood is akin to giving him the green light to prey on children once more.
“We hope Catholics in Minnesota, India and elsewhere bombard their bishops with calls and emails until this irresponsible move is reversed,” said David Clohessy, director of advocacy group Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. “This may well be the worst case of callous and reckless actions by Catholic officials we’ve seen in 15 years.”
The now 26-year-old Peterson, who is a member of SNAP, was a choir member and altar server at a church in Minnesota during her early teenage years. At 14, she was sexually violated by Jeyapaul in his parish office, and continued to abuse her in the following months. The priest, according to the report, even went so far as to blame his victim and made her confess for making him “impure.” The school counselor and law enforcement officials were subsequently informed and, in 2010, he was charged for assaulting not only Patterson but also another girl. He fled to India but was arrested and extradited to the U.S. in 2012. A plea deal was reached and charges filed by Patterson were dropped.
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