Clayton, Missouri, Mar 6, 2012 / 05:07 pm (CNA).- The leader of a group that works with clergy sex abuse victims admitted during a recent deposition that the organization has published false information and that he is unsure about whether the group employs licensed counselors.
David Clohessy, director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, known as SNAP, was deposed on Jan. 2 in Clayton, Mo. amid accusations that the group had printed restricted information in a press release.
The accusations centered around concerns that an attorney violated a court gag order by revealing information about an abuse lawsuit to the organization.
Clohessy was ordered by a judge to answer questions in an out-of-court testimony that may later be used for legal purposes in an ongoing attempt to determine whether the gag order had been violated.
In the text of the deposition – posted online by The Media Report on March 1 – Clohessy was asked by attorneys, “Has SNAP to your knowledge ever issued a press release that contained false information?”
And he (later in the article) says his organization should be held to “a different standard of transparency” than parishes and dioceses.“Sure,” he responded, without offering any defense or explanation.
Transcript of the deposition:3 Q. All right. Has SNAP to your knowledge
4 ever issued a press release that contained false
5 information?
6 A. Sure. 10:43A
7 Q. All right. Has SNAP ever issued a
8 press release regarding a person who claimed
9 sexual abuse who later retracted that claim?
10 A. I don’t know.
11 Q. Are you aware of any situation where
12 SNAP issued a press release regarding claimed
13 sexual abuse that turned out to be unfounded
14 later?
15 MR. JENSEN: Objection to the form of
16 the question. It’s vague.
17 BY MR. MADDEN:
18 Q. Are you aware of any such
19 situations –
20 MR. JENSEN: Subject to the objection
21 you can answer the question.
22 A. Oh, I’m sorry. 10:44A
23 BY MR. MADDEN:
24 Q. The question is are you aware of a
25 press release issued by SNAP regarding sexual
d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/snap/pages/1114/attachments/original/RevisedREDACTEDDEPODAVIDCLOHESSY_2_.pdf?13306979761 abuse that later turned out to be unfounded?
2 MR. JENSEN: Same objection. You may
3 answer the question.
4 A. We have certainly issued press
5 releases about credibly accused child predators
6 whom church officials have later claimed were
7 unsubstantiated or not founded.
Sounds like he dodged the question with a cop out answer.Here is the line of questioning regarding whether SNAP has ever issued a press release with false information
d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/snap/pages/1114/attachments/original/RevisedREDACTEDDEPODAVIDCLOHESSY_2_.pdf?1330697976