BishopAccountability.org
	SNAP Leader Heads to Court after Protest By Robert Cristo Troy Record April 11, 2006 http://www.troyrecord.com/site/news.cfm?newsid= 16460803&BRD=1170&PAG=461&dept_id=7021&rfi=6 ALBANY - An alleged victim of clergy sex abuse will have to answer for misdemeanor charges that he violated a restraining order while protesting near the Holy Cross Church in Albany during Palm Sunday services. Mark Lyman, 41, a Troy native and the director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, was charged in Albany City Court Monday with violating a recent court order that requires protesters to not come within 100 feet of the Rosemont Street church. The Stillwater resident, who claims to have been sexually abused by a Franciscan priest and La Salle Institute school chaplain in the late '70s and early '80s, was arrested while protesting with a small group who believe the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany hasn't done enough to help victims of clergy sex abuse. Albany Bishop Howard Hubbard countered those claims by saying the diocese has done everything "possible to protect children" and that either the protesters are "unaware" of those efforts or are "ignoring" them. Both Lyman and his attorney, John Aretakis, say the misdemeanor charges will not stand when Lyman is scheduled to return to court next month. According to them, Lyman was well behind the 100-foot limit that was set seven months ago after a protest in which the Albany Diocese felt protesters were getting too close to the church. "His (police officer's) markings take precedent over the Albany Corporation Counsel markings," said Aretakis. "He's been parking his car in the same spot for seven months and has been in the same place and now all of a sudden they arrest him." After he was arrested on Sunday, Lyman posted bail and joined another protest outside the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. Despite the arrest, Lyman says he will continue to protest every Sunday to prevent clergy sexual abuse from occurring to other children and to force the diocese to have more empathy and support for the many victims. "The truth is what motivates me to keep going out there every Sunday," said Lyman. "I believe the victims in these cases, and so many of them have had the diocese slam the door in their face." "Being a victim myself, I do it to protect kids and to notify the public, because we don't want to see anyone else go through the kind of pain I myself and others have," he added. Lyman's $5 million civil suit is still pending in a Massachusetts, according to Aretakis. He claims the sexual abuse began when he was 13 in 1977 and continued right up until 1983 in New York and Massachusetts.
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