Priest Can’t Escape History of Sexual Misconduct – May 25, 2006 report posted on ABC7 news: This was the first investigative report by Dan Noyes aired on ABC news. Noyes interviewed John Bennison’s first wife, Maggie Thompson who was married to him at the time of the abuse; Muriel, who was 19 when she went to John Bennison for counseling and had an affair with him; Andy, the brother of the 14-year-old victim; The Rev. Margo Maris who investigated the abuse and Joey Piscatelli from the Survivor’s Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP). The report references some documents from the 1993 investigation into John Bennison’s behavior. John Bennison and Bishop Swing declined to comment.
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=i_team&id=4206148
Text of Bishop Swing’s Letterb to the people of his diocese – May 31, 2006 – posted on ABC7 news: In this letter Bishop Swing justifies his decision not to depose John Bennison in 1993 after attending two meetings in which his victims and The Rev. Margo Maris documented his abuse of a 14-year-old parishioner and others in two parishes. He admits that he saw a document outlining other instances of abuse, but says that the “veracity of the accusations had not been dealt with”, nor did he follow up by investigating the veracity of these allegations. He ignored them and supported John Bennison in remaining a priest despite the victims’ request that he be deposed.
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=i_team&id=4230508
Statement from mother of 14-year old victim in response to Bishop Swing’s letter – posted June 9, 2006 on ABC7 news: In this letter Julia, the victim’s mother, challenges the claim in Bishop Swing’s letter that he did not know of John Bennison’s other victims. She expresses her dismay that the bishop was willing to call for John Bennison’s resignation only after a public scandal. She speaks of what it cost her daughter to speak publicly about John Bennison’s abuse.
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=i_team&id=4255941
Letter from St. John’s, Clayton parishioner – May 27. 2006 – PDF file posted on ABC7 news: A letter from a former vestry member of St. John’s, Clayton to her fellow parishioners written in response to John Bennison’s claims to his parishioners that the sex he had with former parishioners was consensual and long in the past.
http://abclocal.go.com/three/kgo/060906_iteam_priest_sex_parishioner_letter2.pdf
Priest removed from Parish After Sex Scandal – June 9, 2006 report from ABC7 news: This is a follow-up report written after John Bennison was voluntarily deposed by the bishop of Los Angeles. The article includes comments from Joey Piscatelli from SNAP, from Julia, the victim’s mother, and from Cathy Pinnell, a parishioner at St. John’s Clayton. It also refers to church documents and court documents from John Bennison’s second divorce. John Bennison declined to comment. http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=i_team&id=4255618
Letters from Charles Bennison to Maggie Thompson his former sister-in-law – PDF copy of three letters posted on Virtue Online:
- Letter of April 15, 1979 – Charles Bennison states that he is trying to cool animosities over a public scandal, which could “cost me my job.” He tells her not to come to St. Mark’s and to desist in correspondence with the family of the 14-year-old victim
- Letter of April 25, 1979 – follow up to the above letter in which Charles Bennison expands on his reasons for writing it.
- Letter of September 29, 1992 – written in response to Mrs. Thompson inviting him to the upcoming meeting in which she, the now-grown 14-year-old victim and her mother will present the facts of the situation to the bishops of the church. Charles Bennison answers her questions about his and John’s childhood. However he refuses to attend the meeting or meet with “outside people” about his brother’s abuse. He states that the meeting is contrived and that he has no responsibility in the matter.
http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/content/bennison-letters.pdf
Open letter from Julia, mother of the 14-year-old victim to Charles Bennison Bishop of Pennsylvania, presented on Nov. 4, 2006 in Philadelphia and posted on Virtue Online: This letter was first read aloud by Julia at a series of public forums in Philadelphia in which she, her son, Maggie Thompson, Ron Thompson and a former parishioner of St. Mark’s, Upland spoke about John Bennison’s abuse and the subsequent events. Julia stated that she is writing in response to Charles Bennison’s statement to his clergy and in the Philadelphia Inquirer that he did not know of the abuse until she had told him about it.
http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/print.php?storyid=4959
Open Letter from SNAP to Presiding Bishop-elect Katherine Jefforts Schori - June 17, 2006: A letter from the President and National Director of SNAP to the Presiding Bishop-elect urging her to work with SNAP to improve child abuse prevention and response efforts in the Episcopal Church. They reference the “Bishop William Swing-Father John Bennison Controversy,” urging a “serious examination into how and why this tragic situation was (and is still being) severely mishandled.”http://www.snapnetwork.org/snap_letters/2006_letters/061706_episcopal_church.htm
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