Man who says he is victim of former Lumen Christi priest finds sanctuary on baseball field

MICHIGAN
MLive

By Danielle Salisbury | Danielle_Salisbury@mlive.com
on August 25, 2015 at 10:00 AM, updated August 25, 2015 at 1:18 PM

JACKSON, MI – Baseball fields have been his sanctuary, places of respect, places of comfort.

They give him peace, and respite; they take his mind from the abuse that he said damaged his soul.

Andy Russell, 47, umpires more than 70 high school baseball games a year, and earlier this month, he returned to Lumen Christi High School’s baseball field for a series of alumni games.

It was the first time he had been to the field since he publicly identified himself in June as a victim of James Rapp, a former Lumen Christi priest now charged with 19 counts of criminal sexual conduct. Rapp, 76, is accused of crimes against multiple students from 1980 to 1986.

“It was healing,” Russell said of going to the field, which shares a name — Crowley — with his mother’s family. “It was awesome.”

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