OREGON
The Oregonian
By Lynne Terry, The Oregonian
At 54, he told her she was special and showered her with gifts. He became her best friend and then lured her into a sexual relationship. Carolee Horning was only 15.
The Rev. Edward Altstock groomed her, abused her, then moved on from St. John The Apostle Parish in Reedsport, continuing his career while she stumbled toward adulthood, shattered by guilt and shame. She kept the sex abuse secret, just as he had asked, for more than two decades. She never had a boyfriend and never married.
Now 41, she finally recognizes that Altstock was not a soul mate, as she had imagined, but a predator who used her for pleasure. In May, she settled her lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Portland, which oversees the Reedsport church. The deal includes a rare public apology by a high-ranking archdiocese official during Mass this Sunday at St. John.
The apology coincides with a new allegation of priest sex abuse in Woodburn last week.
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