Victims to distribute anti-abuse leaflets

They name 5 accused priests who were in Eastern KS

SNAP blast KS Catholic archbishop for “still hiding them ”

Prelate belatedly posted a list of 22 alleged abusive priests

But his list is “incomplete” and “leaves kids at risk” group says

SNAP: “Church staff should tell KBI what they know about crimes”

WHAT:

As part of a new ‘outreach’ campaign, abuse victims and their supporters will

--disclose a list of five credibly accused child molesting clerics who worked in/near Topeka but have virtually gotten no public or press attention here, and

--hand out fliers door-to-door seeking “anyone who may have seen, suspected or suffered crimes” by any of these clerics or others who worked in the Topeka area.

And they’ll urge Kansas City’s archbishop to

---explain why these names were left off his “accused” list,

---add the clerics’ names (along with photos, whereabouts and work histories of all publicly accused clerics) to his website, and

---include the identities of ALL who have sexually abused (including nuns, bishops, brothers, seminarians and priests).

They will also urge

---all Kansas bishops to post similar lists of accused clerics, and

---all current and former church-goers and staff to report known/suspected abuses and cover ups to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.

VISUALS: The group will hold signs and childhood photos before leafleting.

WHEN

Tuesday, Aug. 20 at 1:00 p.m.

WHERE

Outside Mater Dei Catholic Church, 911 S.W. Clay Street (corner of S. W. 10th Ave.) in Topeka (785 232 7744, materdeiparish.org)

WHO

Two-three concerned KC area men who are members of a support group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPnetwork.org), including a Missouri abuse victim who for 30 years was the organization’s executive director (and whose brother is a predator priest)

WHY

---1) In January, KC KS Archbishop Joseph Naumann released a list of 22 of credibly accused abusive priests who are/were in eastern Kansas. https://bit.ly/2TEJVRG

SNAP says his list is “incomplete and inadequate.” Today, the group is disclosing two credibly accused abusive Jesuits, neither of whom are on Naumann’s list and both of whom were just 30 minutes from Topeka:

--Fr. Francis X. Nawn, who was ordained in 1951, died in 1992, and worked and/or studied in New York, Colorado, Wisconsin, Nebraska and Alaska (where he lived and worked in remote villages for years). In 2004, Fr. Nawn's name first surfaced in lawsuits as having sexually abused Alaskan kids starting in 1963 and continuing until at least 1977. By 2005, nine men and one woman had come forward with allegations of sexual abuse by Fr. Nawn when they were children.

From 1951-1952, he was at St. Mary’s College in St. Mary’s KS.

http://www.bishopaccountability.org/assign/Nawn_Francis_X_sj.htm

--Fr. Richard J. Pauson, who was ordained in 1957, died in 1971 and spent much of his career was on Native American reservations in Montana and Idaho. His name was included in 2011 on a Jesuit list of its clerics who were identified as perpetrators of sexual abuse.

From 1957-1958, he was a student priest at St. Mary’s College in St. Mary’s KS.

http://jesuitswest.org/Assets/Publications/File/JW_List_1207_English.pdf

SNAP wants Naumann to add them to his list and apologize for and explain his “recklessness.”

Over the past six months, SNAP has found and disclosed at least 12 other proven, admitted or publicly accused child molesting clerics who were omitted from Naumann’s list (even though Catholic officials elsewhere have deemed nearly all of them ‘credibly accused’ child molesters). They are: Fr. Gilbert Stack, Fr. Gregory Beyer, Fr. Benignus Scarry, Fr. Placidus Kieffer, Fr. Thomas S. McShane, Fr. Philip D. Kraus, Fr. Anthony D. Palmese, Fr. Roger A. Sinclair, Fr. Eugene A. Maio, Fr. John C. (Fidelis) Forrester, Fr. Francis W. Callan, Fr. John A. Coughlin, and Fr. Patrick J. Conway. https://bit.ly/2FZ1Izg

http://www.snapnetwork.org/victims_blast_ks_archbishop_on_abuse_jan19

At least three of them worked in/near Topeka but have attracted little or no attention in Kansas. They are

--Fr. Sinclair (who was fired from the state hospital),

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/PA_40th_GJ/Cases_and_Profiles/2018_08_14_PA_GJ_Priests_Greensburg_15_Sinclair.pdf

--Fr. Palmese (who was at Our Lady of Guadalupe), and

https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/ocala/obituary.aspx?pid=155759849http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2014/09_10/2014_10_31_KETV_ManAlleges.htm

--Fr. Rogge (who was at St. Mary’s). http://www.bishopaccountability.org/assign/Rogge_Norman_J_sj.htm

(Rogge is believed to be the only US priest who was convicted twice for sexually abusing kids - in 1967 and again in 1985 - received probation both times and was allowed to continue in ministry.)

SNAP is urging anyone who has suspicions or information about these accused wrongdoers, or other abusive clergy, to call independent sources of help like police, prosecutors, therapists or support groups, instead of church officials.

---2) In February 2019, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation launched a probe into all four Kansas dioceses and how they deal with abuse. (To report information: 1-800-872-7463, ClergyAbuse@kbi.ks.gov) http://www.complicitclergy.com/2019/07/23/kansas-bureau-of-investigation-launches-clergy-abuse-investigations-in-33-counties/

In July, the KBI disclosed that it has opened 74 current investigations and recieved calls from 119 victims.

https://www.kansas.com/news/local/crime/article233015562.html

SNAP applauds the KBI’s work. It wants Naumann to urge his flock to “report any information or suspicions about clergy sex crimes or cover ups” to the agency.

“It’s not enough to comply with subpoenas,” SNAP says. “Naumann and his staff are concealing and have concealed crimes by clerics for years. If they want to restore faith in their institution, they must reverse course and vigorously push parishioners to share what they know or suspect about molesters with the KBI.”

SNAP is also begging to “every current or former church-goer or staffer to call the KBI with any suspicions or knowledge of abuse or cover ups, no matter how small, old or seemingly insignificant” because it says “our moral and civic duty is to pass on what we know or suspect to law enforcement, so kids might be spared horrific pain.”

BACKGROUND

Two Kansas Catholic dioceses (Kansas City KS and Salina) have produced lists of predators while two others (Wichita & DodgeCity) have not. Three of Missouri’s four dioceses have done so, but not the Kansas City MO diocese.

The Kansas City KS archdiocese (which covers Topeka) can be reached at 913 721 1570, archkck@archkck.org.

CONTACT

David Clohessy 314 566 9790, davidgclohessy@gmail.com, Larry Davis 816 769 5899, ldavisvos@gmail.com, Jim McConnell 816 590 4752, jm0832@att.net, Zach Hiner 517 974 9009, zhiner@snapnetwork.org