SOUTH BEND (IN)
South Bend Tribune [South Bend IN]
October 17, 2023
By Kevin Connolly
On Oct. 3, The Guardian reported that the FBI has interviewed several former members of the South Bend-based People of Praise with regard to allegations of sexual abuse and cover-up within the organization. The story includes disturbing new claims from a woman who alleges that People of Praise leadership coached her mother not to press charges against a member who allegedly sexually abused her from the age of three. That man allegedly remained in the People of Praise and was even housed with a family who had a 6-year-old child.
While the People of Praise is a private organization, their past and present members have jobs in the community and interact with the public every day. It is in the public interest, and a matter of public safety, that the People of Praise report who in their organization past or present has been credibly accused of child sexual abuse. This is especially important in light of these new allegations, because they imply that credibly accused perpetrators may not have any legal trail. The legal system provides protection for the public by requiring offenders to register and by hosting their information in a public database.
Similarly, the Catholic Church publicly releases the names of clergy credibly accused of sexual abuse or misconduct. Among other things, this serves to protect the public from the credibly accused, even if they were never convicted. The Catholic Church acknowledges that many cases that should have been brought to the proper authorities never were. Indeed, because of the statute of limitations, they never can be. So they rightly consider the onus to be on their own organization to determine which allegations are credible and to release the names of the credibly accused. Likewise, if there are cases in the People of Praise that should have been brought to the proper authorities and never were, the organization should do the right thing and release the names of the credibly accused to the public for the safety of the community.
Kevin Connolly lives in Narberth, Pa.