PENNSYLVANIA
The Tribune-Democrat
By Dave Sutor
dsutor@tribdem.com
Attention surrounding the Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown child sexual abuse scandal has not only affected the victims themselves, but also other individuals who have been assaulted at some point during their lives.
The issue has been prominently discussed from 2013, when allegations were first made that Brother Stephen Baker molested students at Bishop McCort High School, through the release of a grand jury report last year in which the diocese was accused of perpetrating a coverup to protect predator priests, until today.
Victim Services staff members believe it has played a role in the number of people coming to their organization for help.
When making a July 1, 2016, through June 30, 2017, fiscal year budget, Victim Services anticipated seeing about 800 sexual assault clients throughout Cambria and Somerset counties. That expected total was already surpassed by the end of February.
“I think that, especially with the media attention that this particular scandal has gotten, this particular issue, we have seen a lot of survivors who aren’t even related to this issue who are struggling a lot more because it’s constantly brought up and they’re constantly being triggered,” said Erika Brosig, Victim Services clinical supervisor.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.