UNITED STATES
The Guardian (UK)
Amanda Holpuch in New York
@holpuch
Thursday 10 September 2015
For decades, the locker rooms at Chaminade College Preparatory School in St Louis were a place of terror for several students aged 11 to 18, who as adults have filed lawsuits against the school alleging widespread sexual abuse by its staff. Former students also say they were abused in Chaminade’s boarding school rooms and staff offices.
Christopher Wimmer, who says he was abused by two staff members at Chaminade for seven years, reports anger issues and problems with authority and is unable to keep a job because bosses frustrate him, along with a host of other mental and physical issues. He describes himself as “one of the good ones”, however, having seen people escorted into child sex abuse survivor support groups, unable to speak and barely able to function.
“I always thought that because I hadn’t eaten a gun or jumped off a bridge that I had transcended,” Wimmer said.
The story is a familiar one across the US, where the culture of child sex abuse in Catholic organizations persists.
When Pope Francis arrives in the US for the first time later this month, his reputation as the beloved “people’s pope” will be clouded by the trauma endured by the thousands of people abused as children in the Catholic church.
Wimmer told the Guardian that he hopes Francis is as “wonderful” as his reputation suggests. “But as far as this issue goes, he hasn’t done anything to give me hope,” the 56-year-old said.
Using data from John Jay College of Criminal Justice’s 2011 report on sex abuse in the church, BishopAccountability.org estimates that there have been at least 17,200 victims in the US. The site warns that this is a conservative estimate.
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