MISSOURI
The Kansas City Star
BY MARY SANCHEZ
THE KANSAS CITY STAR
09/25/2014
A wicked reality of sexual abuse is that it makes the victim into a poor witness.
Survivors can end up badly damaged. Especially if the abuse occurred when they were young, still forming their sense of sexuality, ability to trust.
Why else would they be in court seeking damages?
Look for that fact to be exploited in Monday’s trial pitting the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph against a former altar boy.
Jon David Couzens says he was abused for about four years, between when he was in fourth and eighth grades. He accuses the now-deceased Monsignor Thomas J. O’Brien, who’s also the subject of dozens of other lawsuits and on whose behalf the diocese has already paid out millions in settlements.
Settle out of court. That’s the norm. Mitigate the possibility that the nasty details, evidence that the diocese knew of the allegations but did nothing to keep a priest from harming young boys, will be aired in public.
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