MADISON (WI)
Isthmus
August 1, 2018
By Peter Isely
As survivors of childhood sexual abuse by clergy of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, we are responding to Dave Cieslewicz’s recent Citizen Dave post, “Flynn should stay in the race.” A number of us were sexually assaulted by priests within the Milwaukee Archdiocese during the time Matt Flynn was chief legal counsel to the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, from 1989-2004.
We have suffered together. We have sought healing together. And we have fought for the truth together. Our community includes three generations of survivors. Our oldest survivor is 94; the youngest is 16. Both were raped or assaulted between the ages of 5 and 7. In both cases, the priests had multiple, documented notifications or warnings to the archdiocese about their conduct, extending from 1936 to 2014.
Cieslewicz’s column in support of Matt Flynn remaining in the governor’s race has forced on us again the burden of having to speak the truth about the terrible things that happened to us and how it was covered up by church officials with Flynn’s now well-documented help.
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