WORCESTER (MA)
Telegram & Gazette
By Susan Spencer TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
Ann M. McCarron never forgot being sexually abused by her pediatrician from the time she was 7 until she was 12 years old, but she never told anyone about it until she was in her 30s, after years of therapy.
Believing that she would go to jail if she spoke out, she tucked it in the back of her mind and followed a path of self-destructive behavior, including drinking vodka until she passed out.
“I was scared silent and I was numb,” said Ms. McCarron, who is now 49 and the associate athletic director at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
David K. O’Regan, 62, of Spencer, also blocked out for 40 years detailed memories of being abused at age 11 by a priest, until the bombardment of media reports surrounding the Boston clergy scandal forced him to face his past. He opened up for the first time, at age 52, to his wife.
“I didn’t think anyone would believe me. I didn’t believe it,” said Mr. O’Regan, who is a victim’s advocate for the Worcester chapter of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.
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