NEW YORK (NY)
New York Daily News
August 15, 2018
By Megan Cerullo
Jim VanSickle will keep telling his harrowing tale of survival as long as it keeps the spotlight on sexual abuse within the Catholic Church.
He is committed to creating a community where other survivors can come forward and share their stories too.
VanSickle, who attended the Bradford Central Christian High School in Bradford, Penn., was a “lost” 16-year-old when he met his English teacher, a priest named David Poulson in 1979, the Washington Post reported.
His grandmother had died and his father was too sick to work, according to the report.
And so he turned to Poulson, 10 years his senior, for guidance.
The pair formed a powerful bond that VanSickle credits with helping him graduate from high school and college.
“He turned my life around,” VanSickle told the Washington Post. “He was my spiritual leader. He was my friend.”
But VanSickle, now 55, also accuses Poulson of abusing him, both physically and emotionally.
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