ALBANY (NY)
Albany Times Union
By MICHELE MORGAN BOLTON, Staff writer
First published: Sunday, October 2, 2005
ALBANY -- John Hesler never turned his back on God, although it might not be hard to blame him if he had.
For three decades, he silently struggled with the aftereffects of being sexually abused in the late 1960s by the Rev. Edward Leroux, one of 20 priests removed from the ministry here since 1950.
Now, after rejecting a settlement offer from the diocesan-funded Independent Mediation Assistance Program -- which just marked its one-year anniversary -- Hesler says he has to speak out.
Hesler was an altar boy, lector and a member of the CYO at Guilderland's St. Madeleine Sophie, where Leroux was serving.
Like other abuse victims, he turned to the diocese for help and justice, a quest that began in 1992 after Leroux neglected to answer a 1989 letter.