CONNECTICUT
Norwich Bulletin
The abuse of a child is repugnant, and it is exponentially more so when it comes at the hands of a most-trusted person -- a teacher, a coach, a parent, a priest.
That the Catholic church for decades covered up the sexual crimes of its priests added greatly to not only the numbers of victims, but the pain and humiliation suffered by them and their families.
The church finally appears to have seen the light, and is making amends to the thousands of victims sexually and physically abused by priests.
One of the latest victories, which we wholeheartedly cheer, involves a local family.
A former local priest was defrocked in May by Pope Benedict XVI. Bernard Bissonnette allegedly abused children while serving locally at parishes in Putnam, Moosup and Pawcatuck. Gene Michael Deary of Brooklyn said his brother, Thomas, was raped and molested by Bissonnette in the 1960s. Thomas Deary committed suicide in 1991.