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	Port Orange Man Claims Priest Abused Him By Mark Harper Daytona Beach News-Journal May 14, 2010 http://www.news-journalonline.com/news/local/east-volusia/2010/05/14/port-orange-man-claims-priest-abused-him.html Jason Bell says he didn't share the things that went on when he and his friends hung out with the Rev. Richard Emerson in the late 1980s and early 1990s -- not with anyone. It wasn't until he was about 30 that he finally told his mother about the sexual abuse. Now he's telling the world. Bell, a 34-year-old painter from Port Orange, filed a lawsuit against two Roman Catholic dioceses this week and spoke in a telephone interview Thursday about his allegations. "I started reading about him on the Internet," Bell said. "He's had more than one allegation. That made me more comfortable that maybe someone will believe me. "I know now that I will not burn in hell." Bell, who is not Roman Catholic, said he grew up with two friends in Orlando who were. He attended Catholic Mass with them, and met Emerson, who served as a priest at three Central Florida churches from 1987 to 1991, including one year at St. Peter's Catholic Church in DeLand. Bell said he met Emerson at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in Orlando. He and his friends would spend weekends with the priest, sometimes meeting him at church, sometimes going out with Emerson on his boat. "He would buy us alcohol and pornography," Bell said. "At the time, when I was a kid, I didn't think anything was wrong with that." After the boys would drink, Emerson would "prey on the drunkest one," fondling him, Bell said. At least three other men and boys have accused Emerson of sexually fondling them and watching pornographic videos with them while he was a priest in the Diocese of Orlando and the Diocese of Gary, Ind. Emerson left the priesthood in 2006, the Post-Tribune of Northwest Indiana reported Thursday. His whereabouts are unknown. The Orlando diocese released a statement acknowledging learning of accusations against Emerson in 2004, when it said information was turned over to law enforcement, to the Diocese of Gary and the Orlando parishes where Emerson served. "Pastoral assistance was offered to the individual who made the report," the statement reads. "We trust that the alleged victim's attorney will allow us to meet with the alleged victim to discuss his situation. We pray for all those involved in the situation." Bell said the abuse left him a self-described "shut-in." Eventually, he tried to forget the abuse to put it behind him. "You can never forget," he said. "You can try to make new memories that aren't those." He started his own family, and says the thought of someone harming his kids drove him to fight for better child protection practices.
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