Jury Exonerates Falsely Accused Priest and Archdiocese of St. Louis in Bogus Sex Abuse Claim

   

From TheMediaReport.com [Additional photos and links from educate-yourself.org]
http://educate-yourself.org/cn/Jury-Exonerates-Falsely-Accused-Priest-and-Archdiocese-of-St-Louis10apr17.shtml#top
April 10, 2017

Jury Exonerates Falsely Accused Priest and Archdiocese of St. Louis in Bogus Sex Abuse Claims (April 10, 2017)

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Jury Exonerates Falsely Accused Priest and Archdiocese of St. Louis in Bogus Sex Abuse Claims; Local Media Can’t Stand It

http://www.themediareport.com/2017/04/10/rev-joseph-jiang-jury-innocent/

Vindicated AGAIN: A jury swiftly exonerates falsely accused priest Rev. Xiu Hui 'Joseph' Jiang

A civil jury in Missouri took merely minutes to decide what many of us have already known for a long time: that Rev. Xiu Hui "Joseph" Jiang [right] and the Archdiocese of St. Louis are completely innocent of wild charges related to sex abuse of a teenage girl.

To illustrate how clear it was to the jury that the charges against Rev. Jiang were ridiculous: The jury was given the case at 12:30pm. And even with the staggering anti-Catholic atmosphere in the St. Louis area, and even though the trial's arguments and testimony took a full two weeks, the jury returned its exonerating verdict by 3pm, and that included a lunch break.

More lunacy from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Joel Currier of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch	Gil Bailon, Editor St. Louis Post-Dispatch	SNAP * Executive Director David Clohessy	SNAP Outreach Director Barbara Dorris	SNAP founder Barbara Blaine

[*SNAP = Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests; a 501-C Non Profit organization who pay no taxes on the 86% "donations" received from tort attorneys representing "victims" of supposed sexual abuse by Catholic clergy]

Falsely Accused Priest Finally Fights Back! Missouri Cleric Files Federal Lawsuit Against False Accusers, SNAP, and St. Louis Police (June 30, 2015)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch Promotes SNAP’s Public Defiance of Federal Court Orders to Reveal Truth About SNAP’s Activities (August 1, 2016)

Judge Sides With Falsely Accused Priest, Slams and Sanctions Hate Group SNAP for ‘Reckless Disregard for Truth’ (August 25, 2016)

Lawsuit by Ex-SNAP Insider Exposes Lawyer Kickback Schemes, Exploitation of Victims, and Corruption of SNAP [w/ Court Docs] (Jan. 19, 2017)

SNAP faces lawsuit claiming it colluded with clergy sex abuse victim attorneys (Jan 23, 2017)

SNAP’s Exec. Dir. David Clohessy Resigns In Wake of Lawsuit Scandal That SNAP Took Lawyer Kickbacks and Exploited Victims (January 25, 2017)

SNAP Founder and President Barbara Blaine Now Resigns As Pressure Mounts From Multiple Lawsuits (Feb. 4, 2017)

Media Finally Awakens As SNAP’s Leadership Suddenly Resigns Amid Lawsuits and Scandals (Feb. 7, 2017)

The Meltdown Continues: SNAP Now Sued by Michigan Priest For Defamation [w/ Court Docs] (Feb. 27, 2017)]

Yet if one were to get their information from the local St. Louis Post-Dispatch – who has a well-established track record of animus against the Catholic Church – a reader missing the headline would barely even understand that a jury had cleared Fr. Jiang.

The Post-Dispatch's Joel Currier – whose rottenness in reporting the Catholic Church abuse story needs to be noted – spent much of his article about the jury's exoneration actually regurgitating the false accusations against the innocent priest that a jury had already determined were phony.

In truth, Currier neglected a number of very important facts in the case of Fr. Jiang:

• the teenage accuser originally did not even support suing Fr. Jiang in the first place;
• law enforcement dropped charges against Fr. Jiang after determining the case was completely bogus, a fact which Currier relegated to the very last sentence of his warped article;
• a federal judge ruled last August that the lawyer-funded hate group SNAP defamed Fr. Jiang by falsely accusing him of being a pedophile and ordered that Jiang be compensated for his legal expenses;
• the accuser was represented by tort lawyer Ken Chackes [right, Chackes, Carlson, & Gorovsky LLP], a close collaborator and financial supporter of SNAP;
• the accuser wildly claimed that the abuse somehow happened in a family room at the very same time that seven other family members were present;
• the accuser never suffered from "Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder" as claimed.

In truth, this entire case stunk from its very beginning. Bravo to Fr. Jiang for fighting back against his false accusers and the haters at SNAP.

It should also be noted that while media outlets all across Missouri went berserk years ago trumpeting the bogus accusations against Fr. Jiang far and wide, the same media has largely been mute in reporting the news of the jury's swift and clear decision exonerating the priest. Same as it ever was.

FINALLY, AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE TO ALL PRIESTS: The lesson from the Fr. Jiang case is this: Never, ever, ever become too emotionally or personally involved with any family other than your own. It does not matter that you "baptized every member" and/or "officiated every wedding." We have seen this all too often. That family whom you thought were "like family" to you could become your worst nightmare. Don't say no one ever warned you. Remember:

"Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves.
"But beware of people, for they will hand you over to courts …" (Matthew 10:16-17a).

Filed Under: FEATURE ARTICLES Tagged With: anti-Catholic, anti-Catholicism, Falsely Accused Priests, media bias

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Federal Judge Sides with St. Louis Priest in SNAP Defamation Case

http://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/faith-and-values/federal-judge-sides-with-st-louis-priest-in-snap-defamation/article_16b05d84-b93e-5e66-a3ce-677e0f5d0630.html By Joel Currier St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Aug 24, 2016

ST. LOUIS • Exasperated by nearly two months of defiance of a court order to supply details about people making sexual abuse claims against a St. Louis priest, U.S. District Judge Carol E. Jackson [right] dealt a heavy blow this week to the advocacy group SNAP and others.

In an order filed Monday in a suit by the Rev. Xiu Hui “Joseph” Jiang, Jackson says that SNAP’s refusal to comply has made it impossible for the priest to “litigate the claims against him.”

So as a sanction, Jackson in effect allowed Jiang to prevail on his claim that SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, defamed him and conspired against him.

Jackson said the court will direct that it has been established that SNAP defendants did conspire together “to obtain plaintiff’s conviction on sexual abuse charges” and that it was because of “discriminatory animus against plaintiff based on his religion, religious vocation, race, and national origin.”

Likewise, she said the court will direct that it has been established that SNAP’s public statements “were false and that they did not conduct any inquiry into the truth or falsity of these public statements, but instead made these statements negligently and with reckless disregard for the truth.”

Jiang filed a defamation suit last year against the boy’s parents, police and SNAP leaders David Clohessy and Barbara Dorris, claiming they conspired against him for monetary gain, and that police went after him because of his religious and racial background. He had been named on criminal charges that were later dropped.

Jackson’s sanctions appear to apply specifically to SNAP.

She had ordered June 27 [2016] that SNAP provide detailed information about people making complaints against Jiang. The organization responded with arguments of what the judge called a “rape crisis center privilege” to protect the information. Jackson wrote that it [“rape crisis center privilege”] does not exist.

She said SNAP neither produced the information ordered nor defended itself beyond “repeated assertions of a nonexistent privilege.”

Her original order said that SNAP must hand over emails, text messages and contact information of people who accused Jiang of sexually abusing a boy in a Catholic school bathroom, resulting in charges that were dropped.

Jiang was previously accused of having improper contact with a teenage girl from Lincoln County who attended the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis, where Jiang was associate pastor. Charges of child endangerment and witness tampering — Jiang had been accused of leaving a $20,000 check for the family as hush money — were dismissed in 2013.

In Monday’s order, the judge seemed to outline other avenues for SNAP, pointing out that it had not “proposed targeted redactions of names of third-party victims or attorneys-eyes-only disclosures.” SNAP contends it has turned over “hundreds of pages” of redacted documents to Jiang’s lawyers.

It could have been worse for SNAP, the order suggests, noting that because of “deliberate and willful refusal to comply,” she could have entered a default judgment against the organization. She said that her findings on key points is “a lesser but equally effective sanction.”

Her order says that SNAP must pay “reasonable expenses, including attorneys’ fees” generated by the defiance.

SNAP also has refused Jackson’s order to turn over all records of donations to the organization from the law firm Chackes, Carlson & Gorovosky, which has handled clergy sex abuse cases. The firm, according to David Clohessy, SNAP’s executive director, did donate to SNAP from 2005-12 but never represented the organization. He said he doesn’t know why Jiang’s lawyers want that information.

Clohessy said Jackson’s order is a “worrisome” setback but that SNAP respects the court’s authority.

He said he isn’t sure what SNAP will do but believes the organization did what it believes it had to do to protect victims. He said he won’t know until the court-imposed Sept. 1 deadline to find out how much of Jiang’s legal bills the organization will have to cover.

“That’s obviously a concern but it’s less a concern for us than the ability of victims and alleged victims to report predators and be protected,” he told the Post-Dispatch. “We’ll keep fighting, you know. We have no choice.”

Clohessy said he wasn’t sure if SNAP would still be required to turn over the identities of alleged victim but that the group still believes doing so will deter others from coming forward to police, prosecutors, therapists and support groups.

Jiang’s lawsuit, Clohessy says, seeks “to make sure that yet another alleged victim, witness or whistleblower stays silent,” Clohessy said.

Jiang’s lawyer, John Sauer, could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

It remains unclear if Jackson’s ruling absolves SNAP from providing Jiang’s legal team with the identities of alleged abuse victims.

SNAP’s lawyer, Amy Lorenz-Moser, said SNAP is considering an appeal.

“It’s not over,” she said.

Peter Joy, a Washington University law professor, says the order sanctioning SNAP is unusual because it appears to side with Jiang while rendering SNAP’s obligation to turn over evidence moot resulting from the group’s refusal to do so.

“I think it’s going to be tough for them to win on appeal,” Joy said. “At this point, they’ve lost not based on having the underlying complaint fully litigated but by basically failing to comply with the judge’s discovery order.”

Comments

1. malcolm harris says:
   April 10, 2017 at 9:46 pm

   Dave has reminded us of the words of Jesus, "Behold I am sending you out to be like sheep amongst wolves, so be as shrewd as serpents and as simple as doves……".  The part that we often fail to take on board is the caution… "so be as shrewd as serpents".   To my mind shrewdness would mean identifying the particular wolves who orchestrated the attack.  And Dave used the word rottenness in describing the media's involvement. Without any doubt there is a witch-hunt due to a  complicit media. And incidentally, in Missouri,  there are two newspapers now being sued by Fr. Kenneth Kaucheck… for malicious libel.  This is like a warning shot aimed at the wolves. So  Fr. 'Joseph' Jiang and his Bishop should now sue the St. Louis newspaper…. for libel… and discrimination, on the basis of a citizen's race and religion.  Shrewdness here might mean keeping a counterattack going against the wolves.

2. malcolm harris says:
   April 10, 2017 at 9:59 pm
   Should have said Michigan, not Missouri, when referring to Fr. Kenneth Kaucheck….sorry.
3. Jimmy Mitchell says:
   April 12, 2017 at 8:56 am

   Per Dan on April 10, 2017 at 7:12 pm he is “glad to see someone get justice” as long as that justice is given to Dan. Dan has received justice but is not happy with how that justice has been applied to his conduct and who can blame him. Having been arrested six times for doing the same thing again and again having not learned your lesson the first time must be frustrating. He is also not happy that his material has been questioned and doesn’t believe anyone has a right to assess his material unless you swallow Dan’s story that he has been a victim. As Publion has pointed out to Dan and the like, there are websites out there that are willing to swallow whatever story you put out there regarding the alleged abuse being claimed. This website is not the place for such stories to be taken as fact. The stories presented by those claiming to be a victim have been loaded with questionable material and when assessed have led to conclusions that don’t lead to where the story tellers wish the readers to be led. Dan prefers you buy his story and disregard all the red flags he himself has presented. There have been no nasty lies added to Dan’s story from the outside that have led to Dan’s reputation being ruined. No one knows who Dan really is so no need for Dan to be worried about his reputation being ruined. If Dan’s reputation in the real world has been ruined and his story, as he has presented on this website is true, then Dan is responsible for his reputation being tarnished. Apparently, Dan has been bitten enough times to have learned his lesson in the real world because he has decided to take his show on the internet where he is safe from incarceration. I am sure there are “hundreds” of people out there who are happy about that.

   malcolm harris says:
   April 12, 2017 at 10:04 pm

   In the civil case, in St. Louis, the jury exonerated Rev. Joseph Jiang. The jury took less than three hours to decide the case was without real substance. The plaintiff (accuser) was represented by tortie Ken Chackles, a backer and collaborator of those bigots in SNAP.  Perhaps I am sinning against charity, but I would have liked to have seen the look on his greedy face when the jury announced their verdict. Hopefully the judge will make him look even sicker…. when costs are awarded against the plaintiff…. Ouch!

Lawsuit by Ex-SNAP Insider Exposes Lawyer Kickback Schemes, Exploitation of Victims, and Corruption of SNAP [w/ Court Docs] (January 19, 2017)

By TheMediaReport.com

www.themediareport.com/2017/01/19/lawsuit-against-snap/

Exposed in the courts: SNAP president Barbara Blaine (l) and SNAP director David Clohessy (r)

A callous disregard for victims. Financial kickbacks from Church-suing tort lawyers. Retaliation.

A stunning new civil lawsuit filed in Illinois by a former insider at SNAP confirms what many of us have known all along: SNAP is not an organization designed to help victims of clergy sex abuse but a gang hellbent on shaking down the Catholic Church through a seedy web of lawyer kickback schemes, lawsuits, and bigotry.

Dennis Coday at the National Catholic Reporter was the first to report the news of this stunning lawsuit.

[**Click to read the actual must-see lawsuit filed against SNAP (pdf)**]

Gretchen Hammond was hired by SNAP in 2011 as director of development to oversee the group's fundraising operations and to boost cash inflow to the group. Ms. Hammond did so with great success, but the more she learned about the inner workings of SNAP, the more she came to learn that SNAP was not simply an innocent "victim advocacy group." Hammond began "collecting documents in preparation of exposing SNAP's acceptance of kickbacks from attorneys."

And as the lawsuit asserts, when Ms. Hammond confronted SNAP president Barbara Blaine about her concerns about SNAP's dealings with attorneys, "the atmosphere changed at SNAP for [Hammond]," "SNAP began taking retaliatory actions against [Hammond]," and the group soon fired her. Indeed, the lawsuit is a must-read. Among the eye-openers in the suit:

• "SNAP does not focus on protecting or helping victims – it exploits them."
• "SNAP routinely accepts financial kickbacks in the form of donations. In exchange for the kickbacks, SNAP refers survivors as potential clients to attorneys, who then file lawsuits on behalf of the survivors against the Catholic Church."
• "SNAP is a commercial operation motivated by its directors' and officers' personal animus against the Catholic Church."
• "SNAP's commercial operation is premised upon farming out abuse survivors as clients for attorneys."
• "SNAP callously disregards the real interests of victims, using them instead as props and tools as furtherance of their commercial fundraising goals."
• "SNAP would even ignore survivors that reached out to SNAP in search of assistance and counseling."
• "81.5% of SNAP's 2007 donations were donations by attorneys."

Indeed, regarding SNAP's slippery dealings with attorneys, the lawsuit highlights a November 2012 email in which, according to the lawsuit, SNAP National Director David Clohessy "provided information regarding a survivor to the attorney for the purposes of filing a lawsuit on behalf of the survivor … [and then] asked the attorney when SNAP could expect a donation." Of course.

The email that says it all

For many years, we at TheMediaReport.com have asserted that SNAP's activities have had almost nothing to do with the protection of children and everything to do with bludgeoning the Catholic Church for what it stands for.

Well, Hammond's lawsuit showcases an actual email message composed by Clohessy that clearly proves our claim once again. In a 2011 email exchange, Clohessy wrote:

"i sure hope you DO pursue the WI [Wisconsin] bankruptcy … Every nickle (sic) they don't have is a nickle (sic) that they can't spend on defense lawyers, PR staff, gay-bashing, women-hating, contraceptive-battling, etc."

This lawsuit is the single largest revelation in the Catholic Church sex abuse story in years. We highly urge readers to read the actual lawsuit for themselves and spread the word.

We also wish Ms. Hammond all the best with her courageous lawsuit.

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Related

The Hague Tosses SNAP’s Nutty Lawsuit Against the Vatican, SNAP’s Latest P.R. Stunt Exposed
(June 20, 2013)
http://www.themediareport.com/2013/06/20/snap-lawsuit-against-vatican-dumped/comment-page-1/

SNAP and the TRUTH About False Abuse Accusations Against Priests (Nov. 26, 2013)
http://www.themediareport.com/2013/11/26/false-accusations-catholic-priests/

Deposition of SNAP’s Clohessy Revealed! Clohessy Evades Questions and Subverts Court Order While Lawyers Shred Clohessy’s Defense That SNAP is a ‘Rape Crisis Center’ (March 1, 2012)
http://www.themediareport.com/2012/03/01/exclusive-deposition-of-snaps-clohessy-revealed/

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