Indicted on two rape charges by a grand jury last fall, Bishop Thomas Dupre of the Catholic Diocese of Springfield in Massachusetts escaped criminal prosecution because the District Attorney decided that too much time had elapsed since the incidents of abuse occurred. Dupre resigned from his post and went into seclusion at St. Luke’s Institute, a treatment center in Maryland. Since that time, no one has seen or heard from the Bishop. This is in spite of two victims’ advocacy groups asking the Catholic Church for help in determining the Bishop’s whereabouts and removal from the priesthood. A Springfield diocesan spokesman skirted the issue by stating that it’s a matter for the Vatican to resolve. Supposedly, the Vatican is investigating Bishop Dupre but no word on the status of such investigation is forthcoming from the Diocese of Springfield or the Vatican’s representative in the United States, the Papal Nuncio. David Clohessy, Executive Director of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests commented, “We want to see these guys defrocked-not for punitive reasons but for preventative reasons. If they can’t call themselves priests, it will make access to kids a little tougher.” Priests and bishops who abuse children and are left unaccountable and unaccounted for can continue to harm children.