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SNAP For immediate release: Thursday, February 28, 2008 Clergy sex abuse victims praise counselor Years ago, he exposed predatory Baptist pastor in Texas Now he speaks out in Florida where pastor moved Last night, in an exclusive, lengthy television news interview, a Texas counselor disclosed that he publicly exposed a Baptist preacher who now faces criminal charges for sending sexually explicit messages to kids. This is the same preacher that Ft. Worth seminary head Paige Patterson mentored and then stayed quiet about abuse and assault allegations. "It's encouraging to learn that someone was worried enough about Rev. Darrell Gilyard that he bravely took steps to warn the public about him," said Barbara Dorris, SNAP's Outreach Director. "We're saddened but not surprised that pastoral counselor Don Simpkins was attacked by Baptist preachers for taking a stand for victims and against a predator." "We applaud Simpkins for his courage, concern and compassion," emphasized Christa Brown, SNAP's Baptist Outreach Director. "We applaud him for the concrete steps he took years ago about Gilyard, and we applaud him for the concrete steps he's taking now to protect others." SNAP's National Director, David Clohessy of St Louis, said: "We challenge Paige Patterson to stop pointing fingers, dodging responsibility blaming others, and to do what Simpkins is doing: Go to Florida and tell police and prosecutors everything he knows about Gilyard's crimes." (In fact, why didn't he do that when he was in Jacksonville for the Pastors' Conference just 3 weeks ago?) Simpkins has evidently done more to protect the vulnerable and warn the unsuspecting than perhaps dozens of Baptist officials who heard, suspected or knew of Gilyard's crimes and stayed silent. SNAP is the nation's oldest and largest support network for people who have been sexually abused by clergy. http://www.fox30online.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoid=19376@video.fox30online.com http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/faith/news-article.aspx?storyid=101615
Contact: David Clohessy, SNAP National Director, (314) 566-9790 Barbara Dorris, SNAP Outreach Director, (314) 862-7688 Christa Brown, SNAP Baptist Director, (512) 217-1730 www.SNAPnetwork.org |