Abuse Not Limited to Clergy, by Gillian Flaccus, Washington Post, July 28, 2007

Abuse Not Limited to Clergy

By Gillian Flaccus
Washington Post
July 28, 2007

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/28/AR2007072800734.html

[The photos below have been added from the Philadelphia Inquirer’s version of this article:
http://www.philly.com/philly/wires/ap/news/nation_world/8785802.html]

San Diego — The maintenance trailer outside St. Joachim's Elementary School in Costa Mesa looked harmless from the outside, but once the door slammed shut it was hell on earth for Joe and Paul Livingston.

Lured with doughnuts, candy and games of checkers, the boys were repeatedly molested over several years by the church janitor who lived inside.

This undated image provided by Paul and Joe Livingston shows Paul Livingston and Joe Livingston, as babies being held by family friends in front of Saint Joachim Elementary School in Costa Mesa, Calif. The Livingstons, now in their early 40s, are among a handful of the 508 sexual abuse victims who reached a $660 million settlement with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles last week who were not assaulted by Roman Catholic priests.
Photo by The AP/Paul and Joe Livingston

The Livingstons, now in their early 40s, are among a handful of the 508 sexual abuse victims who reached a $660 million settlement with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles last week who were not assaulted by Roman Catholic priests.

Church teachers, sports coaches and even unpaid parochial school volunteers make up as much as 10 percent of the assailants, lawyers say.

The Associated Press does not normally identify victims of sexual abuse, but in this case the brothers agreed to have their names released.

Paul Livingston, right, and his brother Joe Livingston, sit on the jetty at Hospitality Point in San Diego Wednesday, July 18, 2007. The Livingstons, now in their early 40s, are among a handful of the 508 sexual abuse victims who reached a $660 million settlement with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles last week who were not assaulted by Roman Catholic priests.
Photo by The AP/Denis Poroy

The Livingston boys were 6 and 7 when their mother sent them to Catholic school in the 1970s. She worked several jobs to pay tuition after their father left when Paul was two months old.

Joe, 11 months older, can still see the janitor's face and hands. He also remembers times when the trailer door slammed in his face, leaving him standing outside with his little brother trapped inside.

"I remember feeling so bad because it was my younger brother and I couldn't do anything," he said. "I remember thinking 'God, all grown-ups, all old people, are like this.' Since then, I've been running scared."

The brothers, who now live in San Diego, both dropped out of high school and lived for years in a fog of alcohol, drugs and depression. They were homeless together in the late 1990s, living in a stolen car in San Diego for months and camping on beaches in northern Mexico.

Paul Livingston, left, and his brother Joe Livingston, talk as they walk on the jetty at Hospitality Point in San Diego Wednesday, July 18, 2007. The Livingstons, now in their early 40s, are among a handful of the 508 sexual abuse victims who reached a $660 million settlement with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles last week who were not assaulted by Roman Catholic priests.
Photo by The AP/Denis Poroy

In 2002, Paul saw a newspaper article about clergy abuse and they contacted a Costa Mesa attorney. When Paul spoke to the lawyer about the abuse for the first time, he was so upset he vomited.

In 2004, they shared in a $100 million settlement against the Diocese of Orange. They were also plaintiffs in the suit against the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, which controlled Orange County parishes at the time.

The janitor, who was never arrested, died in 1985.

The brothers attend therapy, Alcoholic Anonymous meetings _ sometimes three a day _ and rely on a nonprofit group called the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests for emotional support.

They have quit their jobs as car salesmen and now travel the country counseling other victims and speaking out against sexual abuse.

They struggle daily with guilt, and even anger at each other, for not speaking up and protecting each other as kids. Yet at the same time, they say, their shared abuse has made their relationship stronger.

"It's kind of like a puzzle that's never been put together fully and all of sudden the pieces mysteriously appear," said Paul Livingston. "We have a relationship today that's not centered on drugs and alcohol and sickness."