Alleged Victim of Priest Abuse Breaks 40 Years of Silence

By Randi Belisomo
WGN
January 23, 2014

http://wgntv.com/2014/01/23/alleged-victim-of-priest-abuse-breaks-40-years-of-silence/

[with video]

A new lawsuit is filed Thursday against the Chicago Archdiocese, on behalf of three people who say they were sexually abused as children by a now-defrocked priest.

The lawsuit comes in the wake of this week’s release of documents involving 30 accused priests.

One of the alleged victims say this week’s events made him angry and compelled him to talk after suffering for 40 years, abusing drugs, alcohol and depression.

He hasn’t been back in a Catholic church since he was 11-years-old.

The lawsuit is being filed by three plaintiffs who say they were sexually abused as children by now-defrocked priest Norbert Maday.

The alleged abuse came during periods of time when Maday was assigned to St. Leo Parish in Chicago and then to St. Louis de Montfort Catholic Church in Oak Lawn.

The lawsuit states that during his tenure at St. Louis de Montfort he suprvised then twice-convicted pedophile, Thomas Hacker, who was the Boy Scout Master there.

Hacker also coached sports at the parish, so he had access to kids in both capacities.

The suit says Hacker was prolific in his crimes, moving among troops and schools for 25 years, molesting by his own estimate more than 100 boys.

Two plaintiffs in the lawsuit allege abuse by both Hacker and Maday.

This lawsuit comes the same week as thousands of pages of secret court documents are released as part of a court settlement, and provide an unprecedented look at the failure of the Archdiocese of Chicago to protect children from abusive priests, quietly shuttling them from parish to parish.

A man known as “John Doe #3? spoke to WGN on the condition his face and voice be disguised.

He says he was abused by both Maday and Hacker for more than a year, about seven times in all.

Maday, he says, befriended boys from broken homes like his own.

“John Doe #3? says he would sit on the priest’s lap as they went on long drives, “He said he was going to grab me if I made a wrong turn or I swerved or something. I think I swerved or cut the turn too sharp and he grabbed me, and stuck his hand down my pants. And then he squeezed my genitals and I could feel his erection.”

The plaintiff’s attorney, Christopher Hurley said, “I was taught that when you go to confession you confess all of your sins, not some of them, not half of them. And now we have the Archdiocese revealing half the records of the pedophiles that we know they know about and are withholding the other half.”

“John Doe #3? says he hopes more victims will have the courage to come forward and tell their own stories.

He says telling his story has given him a little bit of personal peace.