LOS ANGELES (CA)
The Press-Enterprise
By LINDA DEUTSCH
The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES
A man who claims that as a boy he was molested by now-retired priest Michael Wempe testified Wednesday that he reacted with rage when he heard that charges against the clergyman were dropped due to a U.S. Supreme Court decision and he saw news pictures of a smiling Wempe leaving jail.
"I broke things at the house. I was very upset. I did a lot of crying and I did a lot grieving," the witness identified as Greg J. testified in Wempe's trial on new molestation charges involving another alleged victim.
In testimony Tuesday, Greg J. told the Superior Court jury how Wempe bonded with him, particularly while the priest was his golf coach at a Roman Catholic high school.
Returning to the stand Wednesday, the 39-year-old man said that after the priest left him, "I was very confused about whether I was homosexual" and at the age of 18 he became an alcoholic.