For the second time this month a lawsuit has been filed against a priest from Venice, FL, this one alleging sexual assault in 2017. We applaud this woman for coming forward and hope that this news encourages other potential victims or witnesses to come forward.

At the beginning of October, a suit was filed against Fr. Nicholas McLoughlin from the Diocese of Venice. In that complaint Fr. McLoughlin was accused of sexually violating a woman in April 2018. The lawsuit filed today contains similar allegations against Fr. McLoughlin, but from 2017. Given this pattern of behavior, we suspect there are likely others who were hurt by this priest.

We commend this courageous victim for coming forward. We call on Catholic officials in the Diocese of Venice, including Bishop Frank Joseph Dewane, to publicize these allegations, taking steps to inform every community where Fr. McLoughlin worked and urging any victims or witnesses to come forward and make a report to police. Finally, we hope that others who experienced sexual abuse – whether by Fr. Nicholas McLoughlin or others – will call independent sources of help like therapists, law enforcement and support groups like ours.

CONTACT: Zach Hiner, Executive Director (zhiner@snapnetwork.org, 517-974-9009)

(SNAP, the Survivors Network, has been providing support for victims of sexual abuse in institutional settings for 30 years. We have more than 25,000 survivors and supporters in our network. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)