PENNSYLVANIA
Philly.com
MARCH 8, 2016
by Helen W. Mallon
Just days after the Oscar for Best Picture went to Spotlight, the movie detailing how the Boston Globe pursued the child sexual-abuse scandal and cover-up by the local archdiocese, a similar story was reported out of Western Pennsylvania. A grand jury investigation into the Archdiocese of Altoona-Johnstown revealed that hundreds of children were sexually abused by priests over a span of 40 years. And, once again, church officials were accused of participating in a massive cover-up.
It’s mind-numbing. But this problem isn’t limited to the institutionally sanctioned abuse within the Catholic Church. You may not realize it, but someone you see on a daily basis may have been sexually traumatized as a child. The National Child Traumatic Stress Network reports that “as many as one out of four girls and one out of six boys will experience some form of sexual abuse before the age of 18.” Most of these victims will later lead ordinary, private lives as adults. But others will be known only by their destructive coping mechanisms or psychiatric diagnoses, their histories obscured by outrageous behavior. And still other victims will become lightning rods for speaking out.
Most child sexual abuse is done by someone the victim knows and trusts, someone who is already an integral part of the victim’s family or community. It can be an enormous challenge for parents when someone they hold in high regard — perhaps a beloved family member — is linked to such a heinous crime. Children, especially young ones, don’t make this stuff up, but to collude in silencing a child is a simple matter. Facing the truth and seeking justice can be psychologically devastating and legally complicated, fracturing once-solid relationships.
As Spotlight attests, most perpetrators are not the suspicious, antisocial losers we want them to be. This crime thrives behind a wholesome public persona — witness former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky.
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