WASHINGTON
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
For immediate release: Monday, Nov. 17, 2014
For more information: David Clohessy of St. Louis, SNAP Director (314) 566-9790 cell, SNAPclohessy@aol.com
Seattle clergy sex abuse victim publishes memoir
Support group says “honest, searing book” can help with healing
A Seattle woman has published a memoir about her childhood abuse by a priest, her adult years as a nun, her recovery and her advocacy for others who have been victimized. And she will read from it at a “book launch celebration” this Sunday, Nov. 23 at 4:30 p.m. at the University Book Store in Bellevue.
Mary Dispenza wrote “SPLIT: Child, A Priest and the Catholic Church,” in part about the suffering she endured when she was repeatedly molested, starting at age seven, by Fr. George Neville Rucker of the Los Angeles archdiocese. For years, she repressed the memories of that trauma.
A decade ago, as an adult, she sued Catholic officials as one of some 550 victims hurt by Los Angeles priests. It became the largest-ever settlement ever involving the Catholic church, totaling $660 million.
Now, Dispenza is the Seattle area leader of a support group for clergy sex abuse victims called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.
Rucker is accused of molesting almost 40 youngsters.
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