Child and Youth Protection

How We Protect Children and Youth

The Office of Child and Youth Protection at the Archdiocese of St. Louis is devoted to ensuring the safety and well-being of every individual within our community. Committed to transparency and accountability, we take immediate action upon receiving allegations of sexual abuse involving clergy, lay employees, or volunteers. Upholding the standards set by the Holy See, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, and the Archdiocese of Saint Louis, we rigorously enforce policies and procedures for the investigation of abuse reports.

Go to PreventandProtectSTL.org

Ensuring Justice and Healing

The Archdiocesan Review Board works to ensure that persons who have been harmed by sexual abuse on the part of a member of the clergy or an employee or volunteer of the Archdiocese of St. Louis are given the care they need, and that no person with a substantiated allegation of sexual abuse of a minor will serve as a member of the clergy in active ministry or hold a position working in proximity to minors. The board achieves this mission through the careful and thorough analysis of reports of sexual abuse and through outreach to victims of sexual abuse. The process of analysis includes, but is not limited to, receiving complaints, listening to victims, gathering information, and moving forward on complaints that appear to be credible. Any person who is accused is also asked to respond. The board also advises the archbishop on matters regarding allegations of sexual abuse of minors by members of the clergy and employees and volunteers of the archdiocese.

The Archdiocesan Review Board has its roots in a committee that came into being in the 1980s whose mission was to review allegations of sexual abuse of minors by clergy. This committee became known as the Gennesaret Committee in 1996, and it was renamed the Review Board after the USCCB’s Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People was promulgated in 2002. The board’s membership is stipulated to be composed chiefly of laypersons who are not employed by the Archdiocese of St. Louis and who represent a variety of disciplines and occupations pertinent to issues surrounding the sexual abuse of minors, including mental health, medicine, education, and law enforcement. The board chair is to be held by a layperson who is not an employee of the Archdiocese. The Victim Assistance Coordinator serves as an ex-officio member of the board.

Fostering Safe Environments

The mission of the Child Safety Committee of the Archdiocese of St. Louis is to reduce and, where possible, eliminate potential risks to youth within the parishes, schools, offices, and agencies of the archdiocese. The committee works in partnership with parents, teachers, schools, parishes, and all others persons and institutions having responsibility for the safety of children in the archdiocese.

The Child Safety Committee also assists in the establishment of appropriate actions and responses for archdiocesan personnel in identifying and dealing with child neglect, child abuse, child custody and child privacy issues. The committee has been instrumental in developing and implementing the Code of Ethical Conduct for Clergy, Employees and Volunteers Working in Ministry; background checks; the Safe Touch Program; and Protecting God’s Children workshops.

Established under its present name in 2001, the Child Safety Committee has its origins in a smaller committee that was created in the early 1990s to address child abuse prevention. The committee is chaired by Sandra Price, Executive Director of the Office of Child and Youth Protection, and reports to Archbishop Robert Carlson. The membership of the committee is multi-disciplinary and is comprised of representatives of several fields of expertise, including education, risk management, mental health, law, family counseling, and child safety.

The Archdiocese of Saint Louis is committed to assisting in the healing process for those who have been victims of sexual abuse from a member of the clergy. We offer support groups for victims and survivors through our partnership with Saint Louis Counseling. For more information on support groups please contact:

Saundra Barker,
MSW, LCSW Program Director,
Saint Louis Counseling
(314) 544-3800 x 1306

In 2019, Archbishop Robert J. Carlson released the following list of Archdiocesan clergy members with a substantiated allegation of sexual abuse of a minor. No priest or deacon of the Archdiocese of St. Louis against whom there has been a substantiated claim of sexual abuse of a minor is currently serving in ministry. Important facts regarding each member of the clergy who is named, including their status within the Church, are detailed on this list.

View List Release

Reporting Abuse

The Office of Child and Youth Protection serves persons who bring forward allegations of sexual abuse by a member of the clergy or by lay employees or volunteers of the Archdiocese of Saint Louis. When reporting abuse of someone who is currently a minor, please contact the appropriate civil authorities before contacting the office below. To report past abuse, please contact:

Sandra Price

Executive Director,
Office of Child and Youth Protection 314-792-7704

Contact

MO Dept of Health & Human Services

Child Abuse and Neglect Hotline:

1-800-392-3738

MO Dept of Health & Human Services

Adult Abuse and Neglect Hotline:

1-800-392-0210

Child and Youth Protection

The Archdiocese of Saint Louis is devoted to ensuring the safety and well-being of every individual within our community.

How We Protect Children and Youth

Reporting Abuse

Sandra Price

MO Dept of Health & Human Services

MO Dept of Health & Human Services

Related Ministries

Office of Child and Youth Protection

Catholic Youth Council Sports

Marriage and Family Life

Child and Youth Protection

The Archdiocese of Saint Louis is devoted to ensuring the safety and well-being of every individual within our community.

How We Protect Children and Youth

Archdiocesan Review Board

Board Composition

Child Safety Committee

Policies and Procedures

Codes of Conduct

Multidisciplinary Approach

Support Groups for Survivors of Sexual Abuse

Archdiocesan Clergy With Substantiated Allegations Of Sexual Abuse Of A Minor

Reporting Abuse

Sandra Price

MO Dept of Health & Human Services

MO Dept of Health & Human Services

Related Ministries

Office of Child and Youth Protection

Catholic Youth Council Sports

Marriage and Family Life