Yes, there is no one who understands except other survivors. I was lucky years ago to find SNAP. But you talk about fear and I felt it then. I am curious to know what our fears were and are. It was debilitatingly intense. I did report my perp and could barely talk.

Thank you for this post. It’s been fifty years, but it wasn’t until a few months ago that I could name what happened to me by it’s real name. I was in an ICU coming out of brain surgery with male nurses in attendance. They were very kind, but I was confused and had a flashback. After that, I was sure I had done nothing wrong. The perp made me go to confession though I didn’t know what I was supposed to confess, but I continued to think that it was somehow my fault. What a jerk he was, and what a dummy I was. It was an assault disguised as counseling. All of you out there, be wary of counseling. It can get too intimate.

I grew up there, but go back rarely, so this story is both a surprise and not given the abuses uncovered before this. It’s dismal. The Diocese of Bridgeport has been arrogant in many ways in the past fifty years. I don’t expect that much will change there in the future. The only thing that I can think of to help is reporting to the police and hoping for criminal charges. Thankfully, Canada is taking this seriously.

Meanwhile, I live in State College PA these days where the Penn State/Sandusky scandal is playing out. His preliminary hearing is tomorrow morning. No doubt, we will all be privy to the charges and witness statements by tomorrow night. The media is here en masse already. It’s difficult given my own abuse, but the worst of it is the self-protective nature of institutions. The ultimate betrayal by A church, a diocese, a college . Given the culture of institutional self-protection, I don’t see an end to this. It will happen again and again. I wish I could have some hope, but I don’t. It’s up to us to speak truth to power and require change, but I don’t expect change to happen unless we are unremitting in our demands. If you can’t or won’t do that, be prepared for more.

It’s a relief that the Penn State Trustees held both Paterno and President Spanier accountable, but they should also mandate education for the student body. The students just don’t get it, witness the downtown riot last night. It’s chilling to think of them in future positions of responsibility.

Granted, it’s been tense here in Happy Valley for the past week, but it’s an error to think they were just letting off steam.

It’s a relief that the Penn State Trustees held both Paterno and President Spanier accountable, but they should also mandate education for the student body. The students just don’t get it, witness the downtown riot last night. It’s chilling to think of them in future positions of responsibility.

Granted, it’s been tense here in Happy Valley for the past week, but it’s an error to think they were just letting off steam.