AUSTRALIA
Sky News
A Victorian man sexually assaulted as a child by a Catholic priest says weddings and christenings leave him devastated for months because they stir up memories of the attack.
The former altar boy, now aged in his 50s, said he lived with guilt and loss every day since he was molested in the 1970s.
The now-retired priest, 88-year-old James Henry Scannell, was last month found guilty of a single charge of buggery by a Victorian County Court jury.
He continues to deny committing the assault.
The victim said the attack had left him unable to form one-on-one friendships and put a strain on his marriage.
‘I have lost my religion, I lost this the day I was molested,’ he said in a victim impact statement read to the court.
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