On June 13, 2002, SNAP's
David Clohessy addressed the
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops at its high-profile meeting in Dallas, Texas. He asserted that many church-going Catholics had strong concerns about the way in which bishops were handling the growing child sexual abuse scandal. Clohessy said, "We're not here because you want us to be. We're not here because we've earned it or have fought hard for it. We're here because children are a gift from God, and Catholic parents know this! That's why 87% of them think that if you've helped molesters commit their crimes, you should resign." In 2004, SNAP acknowledged accepting donations from leading attorneys who had represented clients in abuse cases, but maintained that it did not direct clients to these attorneys. On August 8, 2009, former
Oklahoma Governor Frank Keating, who served as the first chair of the
National Review Board established by the U.S. Catholic bishops to investigate clergy sex abuse, addressed SNAP's annual gathering. He admitted he was at first naïve about the scope of
child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church and urged bishops who covered up crimes to be prosecuted. In 2009 SNAP supported a legislative bill in New York that would push Catholic Church dioceses to disclose the names of all clergy who have been transferred or retired due to "credible allegations" of abuse. On June 9, 2009, a group of survivors of clergy abuse protested the appointment of
Joseph Cistone as bishop of the
Saginaw, Michigan diocese. Retired Auxiliary Bishop
Thomas Gumbleton of the
Archdiocese of Detroit is a member and strong supporter of SNAP and has helped SNAP do fundraising work. According to the
National Catholic Reporter, Gumbleton was punished by the
Vatican and removed as a parish pastor because of work he did with SNAP and concerns he had about the Church's response to child sexual abuse. SNAP's president, Barbara Blaine, and national director, David Clohessy, resigned from their SNAP positions, effective February 4, 2017, and December 31, 2016, respectively. According to the
Chicago Tribune, "Barbara Dorris, SNAP's outreach director, has become the managing director". Three other longtime leaders, board president Mary Ellen Kruger and outreach director Barbara Dorris, both of St. Louis, and board member Mary Dispenza, left in March 2018. In 2025 SNAP launched a database on
cardinals’ records on clergy sex abuse. == Defamation lawsuit and sanctions ==