CINCINNATI (OH)
WCPO
May 13, 2019
By Corey Rangel
Becky Ianni is still haunted by years of sexual abuse that happened at the hands of her priest when she was a young child.
“I had buried my head, because he told me I’d go to Hell if I told on him,” Ianni said about the priest. “This was my darkest secret.”
After coming forward, it took a year-and-a-half for church leaders to agree to a settlement, she said.
Last week, Pope Francis issued a new church law that requires all Catholic priests and nuns to report clergy sexual abuse and cover-ups to church authorities. Churches have until mid-2020 to comply with setting up a reporting system.
The new law does not require them to report to police, as victims such as Becky have demanded. Previously, such reporting was left up to the conscience of individual priests and nuns.
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.