Media Release – April 30, 2015

Road to Recovery
April 30, 2015

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/AbuseTracker/road-to-recovery.org

Helen Gumpel, retired fashion model and actress, who thwarted a sexual attack in Bill Cosby’s dressing room on the set of “The Cosby Show,” and currently an advocate for the women who were sexually abused by Bill Cosby, will join her husband, Neal E. Gumpel, at Fordham University, Bronx, New York, to draw attention to the sexual abuse of her husband when he was a minor child.

Neal E. Gumpel is a clergy sexual abuse victim of Fr. Roy Alan Drake, SJ, a deceased former professor at Fordham University, Bronx, NY, and Maine Maritime Academy in Castine, Maine, where Fr. Roy Alan Drake, SJ sexually abused Neal E. Gumpel, when he was a minor child.

Fordham University and the Northeast Province of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), who staff Fordham University and were responsible for Fr. Roy Alan Drake, SJ for decades until his death, refuse to acknowledge and bear responsibility for the allegation of sexual abuse against Fr. Roy Alan Drake, SJ in Maine and give any assistance to Neal E. Gumpel, settle and validate his claim, and help him heal.

What

A press conference and leafleting alerting the media and general public that the Northeast Province of the Society of Jesus (Jesuit Priests and Brothers) and Fordham University refuse to assist a clergy sexual abuse victim of one its priests, Fr. Roy Alan Drake, SJ.

When

Friday, May 1, 2015 from 11:00 AM until 1:00 PM.

Where

On the public sidewalks outside the motor vehicle entrance to Fordham University, Rose Hill, Bronx, New York, across from the Bronx Botanical Gardens on Southern Boulevard.

Who

Hollywood screenwriter Neal E. Gumpel, a resident of Connecticut, who has alleged that he was sexually abused as a minor teenager by Fr. Roy Alan Drake, SJ; Helen Gumpel, wife of Neal E. Gumpel, former fashion model and actress who appeared on an episode of “The Cosby Show and thwarted a sexual assault by Bill Cosby in his dressing room; and members of Road to Recovery, Inc., a non-profit charity that assists victims of sexual abuse and their families.

Why

Neal E. Gumpel, whose mother and father are both graduates of Fordham University, was an unsuspecting high school minor teenager when his brother invited him to spend a weekend with him at Maine Maritime Academy in Castine, Maine. Rev. Roy Alan Drake, SJ was a Jesuit priest from Fordham University who was working at the time at Maine Maritime Academy and invited Neal E. Gumpel to his residence on or near the campus, served him alcohol, and sexually abused him. Demonstrators will call on Fordham University and the Northeast Province of the Society of Jesus to do the right thing and help Neal E. Gumpel heal.

Contacts

Robert M. Hoatson, Ph.D., Road to Recovery, Inc. – 862-368-2800

Attorney Mitchell Garabedian, Boston, MA – 617-523-6250