KENTUCKY
WHAS
by Whitney Harding
WHAS11.com
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WHAS11) — Coming from a large Catholic family in Louisville, faith was a big part of Michael Norris’s childhood.
“You know you’re raised to believe that the church is good and the church is there to help people and you know to take care of you; know the people in need,” he said. “That’s not what I’ve seen from the church.”
As a boy in the 1970s, Norris went to Camp Tall Trees which was a Catholic church camp that used to be located inside Otter Creek Park in Meade County. What happened there would shape rest of his life.
“I was sexually abused 40 years ago when I was a child and it took me a long time to come to terms with the abuse,” he shared.
Norris alleges that his abuser was Father Joseph Hemmerle, a priest who worked at the camp for about 30 years.
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