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| Joel Hochmuth was arrested on Tuesday, confessed on Tuesday, fired on Friday. |
If there are victims who need to come forward in connection with this scandal or other ones, they should NOT go to WELS leaders or the police first. They should never go to WELS at all, not at any time.
They should first contact an attorney and SNAP.
SNAP is the long-standing Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests. Their news section will make your blood boil.
SNAP broke the cycle of Catholic priests being caught with children, mostly boys, and being "treated" and put back into the parish. Many priests were just moved around to abuse some more. Cardinal Law in Boston was rewarded with a Vatican appointment for his cover-ups.
The Roman Catholic Church hates SNAP and does not want them involved in any reforms. The Catholic PR machine would have everyone believe the scandals are over, but the facts suggest otherwise.
WELS clergy will be happy to earn their good ol' boy reputation by betraying more victims. I would not send a victim to them any more than I would ask a wolf to baby-sit a newborn lamb.
Attorneys provide two services. One - they gather information and provide perspective. The other is their ability to relieve some of the stress by taking on the difficult role of intermediary. Church officials, when they break the law, as they often do, howl about attorneys. But they have plenty of legal talent on their side. CFW Walther explained why it was wrong to sue, but absolved himself and sued two ministers. That two-faced attitude prevails today.
When WELS lost a $400,000 judgment in the Scott Zerbe case, they immediately appealed the verdict. In other words, they sued to get the minor girl less money, to delay payment of the damages due her when a married WElS vicar seduced her in the name of "counseling." He was back at The Sausage Factory when the news broke. Contrition for seducing a minor girl? Only for being caught.
When did WELS members and pastors read in their own papers about Zerbe in prison, Just convicted, DP Werner in the slammer? Never. One pastor said, "You know more about my neighboring pastors than I do."
You will still hear WELS pastors say Al Just was innocent of stabbing his wife to death, even though the jury convicted him and he confessed his crime (selectively). You will not hear WELS pastors say that Al Just married his children's baby-sitter, who later divorced him in terror.
