Priest Removed from Church Citing Investigation into his Computer
By: Matt Mershon
Updated: March 15, 2013
DIXON - One catholic priest
is no longer with his parish after the church he worked for announced he and
his computer are being investigated by police.
Parishioners, however, are left to their own devices to determind why
exactly the priest is no where to be found.
A letter to parishioners
of St. Patrick's Catholic Church in
The author of the
letter from the Diocese of Rockford, Msgr. Eric Barr, writes that Fr. Gow had
been removed by the Diocese because police are currently investigating conduct
of the priest, "relative to his computer use."
The letter adds that Gow is receiving treatment for this supposed issue
that's, "affecting his priesthood."
The letter is
suggestive of child pornography says Barbara Dorris, outreach coordinator of
the Survivor's Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP.
"We're left to
guess," said Dorris. "But the guess
would be, since adult porn is not illegal, that is would lead you to believe it's
child porn, or is he selling ivory tusks from the rectory? We don't know."
Dorris says this
sort of vague communication in regard to potential crimes committed by priests
is what's plaguing the Catholic Church.
"Why didn't they
immediately inform parishioners so that parents could talk to their children
and say, 'Have you been hurt?'" questions Dorris.
"You need to get to
the truth of these matters and you do that by encouraging people to tell what
they know."
The Diocese
maintains that there are no allegations of abuse against Fr. Gow and no charges
have been filed against him. They say
his removal is precautionary.
"How do we know
there's no abuse if you've kept it secret all this time?"
"If he is in
possession of child porn, he did harm a child and again we're guessing because they
haven't told us why the police are investigating him,'" commented Dorris.
The Diocese's
letter mentions that Fr. Gow will not be returning to the St. Patrick Parish.
