NORTH DAKOTA
KXnet.com
February 3, 2021
By Maddie Biertempfel
A trio of bills meant to give victims of child sexual abuse more time to seek justice heard gut-wrenching testimony this morning from survivors, prosecutors, psychologists and more.
“My dentist was a prolific pedophile,” Jeffrey Dunford said.
Dunford recounts horrific memories of sexual abuse from his childhood dentist in Fargo.
“This particular office manager suggested she had witnessed 400 boys abused in her tenure at the dental office, so I was just one of that section,” Dunford said.
He wasn’t the only one to share his experience.
“I was sexually abused by a priest at Selfridge when I was about 10. Five other boys told me they were also abused by the same priest,” Ted Becker said.
Memories of abuse from priests, parents and other trusted figures filled the hearing room.
“I had one child victim who, her perpetrator had showed her pictures of his wife and his kids and at 7 years old she said, ‘I was worried he would lose his wife and kids and wouldn’t get to see them again.’ That was in the mind of a 7-year-old child,” Assistant Attorney General Britta Demello Rice said.
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