Group urges victims of cleric sexual abuse to step forward

YAKIMA, Wash. -- Representatives from a national group that advocates for the rights of sexual abuse victims by clerics are in Yakima today to urge alleged victims to come forward.

The group, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, SNAP, is holding a news conference at 10 a.m. outside St. Joseph’s Church on North Fourth Street, contending the Catholic Diocese of Yakima is not doing enough to notify people of a pending deadline for lawsuits.

Anyone who has a claim against a Jesuit priest from the Society of Jesus, Oregon Province, must come forward this month.

After the Oregon Province filed for bankruptcy protection in February, a federal judge ruled that victims must file lawsuits by Nov. 30 to collect damages.

Joelle Casteix, a SNAP regional director from California, explained that her group is here because sexual abuse allegations have been made against at least one Jesuit priest, Frank Duffy, who served in the Yakima diocese from 1971-89.

Last year, a woman alleged that Duffy molested her in Yakima when she was a child.

The Oregon Province and the Portland archdiocese have already settled claims against Duffy, who is deceased. He was accused of molesting four Oregon girls under the age of 10 in the 1960s.

SNAP is asking the diocese to place a poster in English and Spanish in St. Joseph’s, where Duffy served, alerting potential victims about the lawsuit deadline. 

But the Rev. Robert Siler, chief of staff for the Yakima Diocese, said parishioners have already been notified.

“We sent out a news release last year when a victim came forward, and we’ve sent notices twice to the parishes asking them to cooperate with the Jesuits in complying with the Nov. 30th claims date,” he said.

Casteix also said SNAP believes that it’s important for the diocese to list the names of “all molesting clerics who served in Yakima” on its Web site, www.yakimadiocese.org.

But Siler isn’t convinced, pointing out that less than 10 percent of dioceses in the country do that.

“We would want to study that more to see if that’s an effective way to reach out to abuse victims,” he said.

• Jane Gargas can be reached at 509-577-7690 or jgargas@yakimaherald.com.

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