Priest Sexual Assault Information

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Church Sexual Abuse comprises a range of immoral and heinous acts often commited against young children and teens by pedophilic clergy or other church members involving sexual abuse of varying degrees. The abuse can be a one-time, non-consensual scroll barencounter or it can include many assaults inside a continuing interaction. For instance, an ongoing “trusting” relationship with a young child spawned by the predatory behavior of a church member, cloaked with the trust and reverence imputed to a member of the clergy, leading to non-consensual sexual abuse acts of molestation.

Within nearly all alleged Priest or Clergy Sexual Abuse situations, the failure by the Clergy member’s employer to entirely, adequately and immediately disclose the offense to law enforcement and other authorities, or the continuing failure to investigate, address and deal fully with the situation amplifies the effects on the assault survivor, the community and potentially others. Current Clergy Sexual Assault cases reported in the press uncover these failures, that includes “pass-the-trash” situations where the predator commonly a clergy in the Catholic Church, is silently moved from one location to another only to continue his predatory, criminal behavior on an unaware parish community.

Priest and Clergy Sexual Assault and Justice
Not a week goes by without a media headline reporting regarding sexual abuse and molestation of young children by predator clergy, or the legacy of the abuse on the survivors and their families. If you are a survivor of sexual assault from a priest or other clergy member, these stories are likely to serve as an echo chamber, reverberating the horror, shame, guilt and various unwelcome feelings harming your wellness. Encouraged by the societal movement and other pathways that encourage victims to reveal the assault they experienced, victims of abuse are more frequently employing the legal system to compensate them for the lifelong harm and injury they have experienced.

If you are a survivor of abuse perpetrated by a priest, the impact of the abuse on your life and core belief system might be immeasurable. Nonetheless, holding the responsible person and institutions to blame for their crimes and indifference may offer an amount of justice and recompense to assault survivors. Oftentimes, survivors can assert their legal rights in confidential mediation therein avoiding the need for litigation. However, if litigation is required, a case may be filed where the plaintiff can remain anonymous.

Predatory Behavior
All predators, to varying amounts, use predatory methods that are generally known as grooming, targeting a possible assault victim. Following is a list of grooming actions exhibited by predators who are in a position of authority in relation to the subordinate child.

Grooming
Grooming is a major part of a predator’s ploy. In a religious setting, the clergy member is held as God’s representative. In this environment, the predator frequently works closely with small amounts of children, identifying each child’s needs, vulnerabilities and circumstances. Once a target is located, these vulnerabilities – such as violent family setting, loneliness, low self-esteem, emotional neediness, attention-seeking – might be systematically exploited in the following ways:

Trust
An assaulter will first try to gain the child’s trust. clergy lawsuit Connecticut is most difficult to discern as church communities are frequently tight-knit and personal interaction with clergy is commonplace. Here, the predator can pretend sincere concern in the child’s wellbeing and development – both emotional and religious.

Reliance
As a predator creates a trusting relationship with the potential victim and oftentimes their family, the child will begin to rely more and more on the predator for whatever need it is that the priest is exploiting and fulfilling. The child will devote increased time with the priest, feeling more and more comfortable with the relationship and relying on its stability and security. In addition to attention and affection, the potential victim might receive presents from the predator, including valuable, intangible presents like blessings and special recognition.
Isolation
While grooming continues, the predator may try to isolate the potential target. This could result in solo counseling meetings, meals or other methods of one-on-one isolated encounters.
Sexualization
The predator may start to de-sensitize the target from reacting negatively to touching, caressing and other behaviors that lead to sexual interaction. This might begin with breaking the physical-touch barrier, or verbally, with suggestive messages to gauge the victim’s response to the progression. This will escalate until the relationship advances to one of a physical, sexual nature.
Maintenance
As the sexual relationship is created, the predator will try to maintain control over the child and the continued interaction. The predator may likely want to manipulate the victim by continuing to make the victim feel special and worthy. The predator will continue to exploit the victim by whatever means necessary to maintain the immoral physical relationship.

Impact on Clergy Abuse Survivors

The effect of childhood abuse on the survivor can be overwhelming and life-changing. Several priest abuse survivors suffer from long-term effects of the assault including depression, disturbed sleeping, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, low self-esteem, suicidal thoughts, substance abuse and eating patterns, and difficulty creating and keeping vibrant relationships. Individualized treatment and support groups can help survivors overcome these effects.

Legally, a victim of Clergy Sexual Abuse can recover financial compensation from the abuser and, more commonly, from the religious organization for its failure to protect the child from the abuse, as well as failures or deficiencies in its method of reviewing and responding to reports of abuse. If you are a victim of Priest or Clergy Sexual Abuse and would like to confidentially discuss your experience and your legal options, we are prepared to speak with you.