CALIFORNIA
Your Central Valley
[with video]
By: Eric Luttrell
Fresno State Athletic director Jim Bartko is sharing his own story of childhood sexual abuse. Bartko is speaking at a “sexual assault awareness month” event. It’s his first public appearance since he spoke with the media back in january.
Bartko sat down with Eyewitness News before he took the stage. He told us he’ll be talking about his guilt, and what suppressing those feelings did to him. Bartko did seek help, something he says, he’ll be urging the students to do.Bartko’s own story has already resonated with many. He says, he still gets letters from around the country.
Bartko says, he was abused by a childhood priest and coach at age 7. He says that abuse continued two years. The priest involved was based out of Oakland and was convicted and served time for lewd and lascivious acts. Still, Bartko says the guilt and shame stayed with him, for 44 years. ” Hopefully people can say, if he can talk about it, we can talk about it and hopefully it will save someone and their emotions, whether it’s sexual assault, rape, what I went through with the priest, or whatever it might be, hopefully, there’s all different forms of it, and tonight it’s all about that, and that’s what it should be about”, according to Bartko.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.