WHAT:
At a sidewalk news conference, clergy molestation victims will announce and discuss two civil child sex abuse lawsuits against a now deceased Kansas City area priest
WHEN:
TODAY, Monday, Aug. 29, 1:45 p.m.
WHERE:
Outside Catholic diocese headquarters (chancery office), 3600 East 36th Street (south lawn) in Kansas City MO
WHO:
Three survivors of clergy sexual abuse who are members of a support group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (NOTE: the plaintiffs will NOT be present.)
WHY:
The civil lawsuits, filed in late Friday, accuse Father Sylvester Hoppe of repeatedly molesting
- a St. Joseph boy from age six to age 18, and
- a Savannah boy when he was roughly 11.
The first victim now lives in Topeka. The second still lives in northwestern Missouri. Both men are in their 60s and their abuse happened in the 1950s.
In June 2002, a different victim, Thomas Dorrell 62, of Valencia, California filed a molestation lawsuit against Hoppe, charging that the priest "molested him repeatedly from 1951 through 1954, starting when Dorrell was about 12," according to the Kansas City Star (6.25.02). The crimes took place at a rectory in St. Joseph's MO and at a Boy Scout jamboree in Southern California. His suit named both the Kansas City MO diocese and the Diocese of Orange County CA as defendants.
That suit is believed to have been settled out of court, with Dorrell getting a five-figure award.
Church officials banned Hoppe from celebrating Mass publicly and performing other sacraments in 2002, according to news reports.
"Hoppe, who was ordained in 1946, has worked at parishes in Savannah, Tarkio, Excelsior Springs and Norborne in Missouri," according to the Star.
Hoppe died Nov. 10, 2002, in St. Joseph. Hoppe had been represented by Kansas City attorney James Wyrsch.
http://catholickey.org/index.php3?gif=viewpoints.
CONTACT:
Kay Goodnow of Kansas City, SNAP leader 913 851 1702
Richard Rosenberger of Kansas City, SNAP leader 816 333 8087
Mike Hunter of Kansas City, SNAP Local Leader 913 634 8427 cell
David Clohessy of St. Louis, SNAP National Director 314 566 9790 cell
Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, SNAP Outreach Coordinator 314 862 7688
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