SNAP: Archdicocese hid sex crimes

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Although a priest signed a written confession in 1978 admitting to sexual abuse of boys, the Archdiocese of St. Louis allowed him to continue serving parishes for more than a decade after that, a victims' rights group said today.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, planned an afternoon news conference to announce the settlement of a suit against the Rev. Donald "Duck" Straub over abuse that happened in 1973 and 1974. At the time, Straub was a seminary student working at Resurrection Parish in St. Louis. The victim was 13 when the abuse began.

SNAP officials said that in 1978, parents of other children at the parish had come forward alleging sexual abuse, prompting a confession signed by Straub and witnessed by Bishop John Wurm, since deceased.
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SNAP director David Clohessy called the 1978 document "by far the oldest and clearest evidence that the archdiocese knew about a predator and kept silent for this long."