Denver Predator Priest Sued for Child Sex Crimes

SNAP
November 20, 2015

http://www.snapnetwork.org/co_denver_predator_priest_sued_for_child_sex_crimes

A new lawsuit has been filed against a predator priest who lives in Denver. Colorado Catholic officials should warn parents, police, parishioners, prosecutors and the public about him.

[dailyherald.com]

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(This new suit also says another priest, Fr. Phillip Dedera, heard and ignored the boy's screams for help and later offered him marijuana after the attack to "help him forget" it.)

Archbishop Samuel Aquila should personally visit the parishes near where Fr. Slade lives, begging victims, witnesses and whistleblowers to come forward. He should also use parish bulletins, church websites and pulpit announcements across the entire diocese to seek out others who may have been assaulted and are still suffering. And he should permanently post on his diocesan website the names, photos and whereabouts of every child molesting Denver are cleric, whether alive or dead, diocesan or religious order, or admitted, proven or credibly accused. (About 30 US bishops have done this. It’s the bare minimum a bishop should do to protect the vulnerable and heal the wounded.)

We hope that every single person who saw, suspected or suffered clergy sex crimes or cover ups in Denver will summon the strength to speak up. Kids are safer only when victims, witnesses and whistleblowers are courageous enough to act. Silence is tempting but it only helps wrongdoers.

It’s important that people with suspicions or knowledge of these crimes and cover ups call the independent professionals in law enforcement, not the biased amateurs in church positions.

We hope that every single person who saw, suspected or suffered clergy sex crimes or cover ups in Rockville Centre will summon the strength to speak up. Kids are safer only when victims, witnesses and whistleblowers are courageous enough to act. Silence is tempting but it only helps wrongdoers.

It’s important that people with suspicions or knowledge of these crimes and cover ups call the independent professionals in law enforcement, not the biased amateurs in church positions.

(SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the world’s oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. SNAP was founded in 1988 and has more than 20,000 members. Despite the word “priest” in our title, we have members who were molested by religious figures of all denominations, including nuns, rabbis, bishops, and Protestant ministers. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)

Contact - David Clohessy (314-566-9790 cell, davidgclohessy@gmail.com, SNAPclohessy@aol.com), Jeb Barrett (720-608-8532, SNAPdenver@comcast.net)

Sexual abuse lawsuit names two former Lombard priests

A former member of Lombard's St. Pius X Catholic Church is suing the Diocese of Joliet and two former priests claiming he was sexually abused as an 11-year-old in 1976.

According to the suit, filed Nov. 6 in Will County, Rev. Henry Slade caught the boy "skipping Mass and ordered him to go into the rectory at St. Pius X, and specifically to Slade's bedroom."

When the boy refused to perform a sex act, the suit states Slade "physically attacked the plaintiff."

The suit also claims . . .