Clergy Abuse – Overview

Church Abuse encompasses a range of immoral and unacceptable acts commonly perpetrated against young children and adolescents by pedophilic priests or other church members involving sexual assault of varying degrees. The assault might be a single, non-consensual scroll barevent or it can include numerous assaults within an ongoing interaction. For example, a continuing “trusting” interaction with a child spawned by the predatory intent of a clergy member, blanketed with the trust and respect provided to a member of the clergy, leading to non-consensual sexual abuse acts of molestation.

Within most alleged Priest or Clergy Sexual Abuse situations, the failure by the Clergy member’s superior to completely, adequately and promptly disclose the crime to police and other authorities, or its continuing failure to investigate, address and deal entirely with the occurrence amplifies the harm on the abuse survivor, the community and possibly others. Current Priest Sexual Abuse cases covered in the media show these failures, including “pass-the-trash” situations when the perpetrator frequently a clergy in the Catholic Church, is silently moved from one parish to another only to continue his predatory, criminal behavior on an innocent parish community.

Priest and Clergy Sexual Assault & Retribution
Not a day passes without a news announcement reporting about sexual abuse and molestation of young children by predator clergy, or the aftermath of the abuse on the victims and their families. If you are a survivor of sexual abuse from a priest or other clergy member, these reports are likely to serve as an echo chamber, reverberating the horror, shame, guilt and other unwanted emotions staining your wellness. Encouraged by the social movement and other channels that encourage them to disclose the abuse they suffered, survivors of abuse are more frequently employing the legal system to compensate them for the lifetime harm and injury they have experienced.

If you are a victim of abuse commited by a member of the clergy, the impact of the abuse on your life and foundational belief system can be incalculable. Regardless, holding the responsible person and institutions to blame for their crimes and failures can provide an amount of justice and recompense to abuse survivors. Oftentimes, survivors can assert their legal rights in confidential mediation therein avoiding the need for litigation. But, if litigation is required, a case may be filed where the victim can remain anonymous.

Predatory Behavior
All predators, to varying amounts, use predatory methods that are commonly known as grooming, aiming at a possible assault victim. Following is a survey of grooming actions used by predators who are in a job of authority in relation to the subordinate child.

Grooming
Grooming is a major piece of a predator’s ploy. In a church environment, the clergy member is held as God’s representative. Within this setting, the predator often works closely with small amounts of children, understanding each child’s needs, weaknesses and circumstances. Once new york church abuse is located, these vulnerabilities – like violent family setting, isolation, low self-esteem, emotional neediness, attention-seeking – can be systematically exploited in the following ways:

Trust
A predator will first work to get the child’s trust. This strategy is most difficult to discern as religious communities are frequently tight-knit and personal interaction with clergy is commonplace. Here, the priest can feign genuine interest in the child’s wellness and groeth – both emotional and religious.

Reliance
As a predator establishes a trusting relationship with the potential child-victim and oftentimes their family members, the child will start to rely more and more on the predator for any need it is that the predator is exploiting and fulfilling. The victim may devote more time with the predator, feeling more and more comfortable with the relationship and relying on its stability and security. In addition to attention and affection, the possible victim may receive gifts from the priest, including valuable, intangible gifts such as blessings and special recognition.
Isolation
While grooming escalates, the predator may try to isolate the potential target. This may mean single counseling meetings, meals or other methods of one-on-one isolated encounters.
Sexualization
The predator may start to de-sensitize the child from reacting negatively to contact, caressing and various actions that lead to sexual interaction. This could start with breaking the physical-touch barrier, or verbally, with inappropriate messages to determine the victim’s response to the progression. This will continue until the relationship gets to one of a physical, sexual nature.
Maintenance
Once the sexual relationship is created, the predator will work to keep control over the child and the continued interaction. The predator will likely seek to manipulate the victim by continuing to make the target feel special and worthy. The predator will continue to exploit the target by whatever ways needed to maintain the inappropriate physical relationship.

Impact on Clergy Abuse Survivors

The impact of childhood abuse on the survivor can be severe and life-altering. Several clergy assault survivors suffer from long-term effects of the abuse including depression, disturbed sleeping, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, low self-esteem, suicidal thoughts, substance abuse and eating patterns, and difficulty creating and maintaining healthy relationships. Individualized treatment and support groups can help survivors overcome these effects.

Legally, a survivor of Priest Sexual Assault may recover financial compensation from the predator and, more frequently, from the church for its failure to protect the child from the abuse, as well as failures or deficiencies in its method of reviewing and responding to reports of abuse. If you are a survivor of Priest or Clergy Sexual Assault and would like to confidentially discuss your situation and your legal options, we are ready to talk with you.