VIRGINIA
WUSA
[with video]
BURKE, Va. (WUSA9) — It happened 40 years ago when Becky Ianni was in elementary school and her priest was so close a friend of her family he joined them on vacations.
He also Sexually abused Becky, causing trauma that lasted well into her adulthood.
“I found myself on the bathroom floor crying, not wanting to live, not wanting to wake up the next day, you know, just being so ashamed, so embarrassed,” she told WUSA-9, as she explained the feelings she lived with for decades.
“I felt like he was a priest, he was sent by God. He was sent by authority. I was told to stand up when he entered a room. I was told to listen to him. I was told what he said came directly from God, and that was where my salvation came from, and, as a little girl, the only way I could get to heaven was through a priest, and then he abused me, so I felt it must be my fault. I felt like God was punishing me,” she said.
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