Priest Sexual Abuse Survivor John "Tim" Mcguire Pickets Churches

Daily Telegraph
July 11, 2019

https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/world/clergy-abuse-victims-face-agonizing-choices-take-a-settlement-or-risk-a-lawsuit/video/b8a84204ea28f3c61899bc969286dd28

John Timothy 'Tim' McGuire told The Day what hurts most is being accused by Catholic congregants of looking for a payday. The 60-year-old New London man who says he was sexually abused when he was an 8-year-old altar boy by a Noank priest has taken to the street to open a dialogue he told the paper, and that conversation begins with picket signs he holds outside of local Roman Catholic churches.

Wednesday, he picketed outside St Patrick's Church in downtown Mystic. Some were supportive, others not.

McGuire told the paper that he was approached by a church-goer who accused him causing trouble and looking for a large settlement from the church: "What are you doing that for? All you want is money!" A similar accusation was made when he protested outside a New London church.

McGuire told reporter Joe Wojtas, "That's what hurts the most. When someone from your own church accuses you of only wanting money. I'm the person who was abused by a priest." The law prohibits McGuire from suing because he missed a filing cutoff date by less than a month.

McGuire says he was habitually sexually assaulted by Father James Curry at St. Joseph's Church in Noank in the mid-1960s. McGuire has testified before state legislators, is involved with a global group of survivors of sexual abuse by the clergy and now, with signs of protest outside local churches.