INDEPENDENCE, Mo. –Three of the five Mohler men accused of sexual abuse in Lafayette County served as lay priests for the Community of Christ Church. Burrell Mohler Sr., David Mohler and Jared Mohler were all members of this faith.
Burrell Mohler, Sr. was a certified youth counselor at his church.
Their memberships have raised concern for the SNAP network. Its members demonstrated in front of the Community of Christ Church Headquarters in Independence on Friday afternoon.
SNAP Director, Judy Jones says if the allegations against the Mohlers are true, there could be more victims in their church congregation.
"Child predators, they usually have many victims and they don't stop at a certain time," said Judy Jones.
SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is an organization of abuse survivors and their supporters. The organization started with allegations surrounding Catholic priests, but members offer support to victims of abuse from any denominations. Judy Jones and other members traveled to Kansas City from the St. Louis area to challenge the Community of Christ Church to seek out possible victims.
"Please use all of your resources to reach out to victims. Why not use your website?" asked Jones.
An outreach Linda Booth with the Community of Christ Church says they're already doing. Booth says three of the Mohler brothers were members of three different churches, but none worked directly with children. Booth says all three congregations involved have stringent guidelines for working with children, and have taken steps to reach out to parents and children.
"We're also working with congregations on Sunday morning to provide the environment where people can share if they have difficulties," said Booth.
Jones admits she has no proof that there are more alleged Mohler victims at their churches. But she believes its SNAP's mission to bring the possibility to light, so abuse victims have a voice, regardless of how long it takes them to speak.
SNAP is the nation's oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. It’s been around since 1988 and has more than 9,000 members across the country.
