Man, 46, who said 'monster' priest abused him when he was a 10-year-old altar boy is found hanged at his Pennsylvania home

By Clemence Michallon
Daily Mail (UK)
July 5, 2016

http://goo.gl/U33VQs

Brian Gergely (pictured in March), 46, was found hanged in his home in Ebensburg on Friday. He spoke out against clergy abuse after identifying himself as the victim of a predator priest

Gegerly said a priest molested him when he was 10. He is pictured in 2003 holding an old photographed of himself while discussing his lawsuit against the priest and the diocese

In 2003, Gergely sued Monsignor Francis McCaa and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown (file picture). Gergely and other plaintiffs settled their lawsuit in 2005

A Pennsylvania man who said a priest abused him when he was only 10 and spoke out against clergy abuse has killed himself, authorities said.

Brian Gergely, 46, was found hanged in his home in Ebensburg on Friday, Cambria County Coroner Jeffrey Lees said Tuesday.

Gergely sued Monsignor Francis McCaa and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown in 2003, saying the priest had abused him when he was a 10-year-old altar boy.

'Tragically, the demons he's been dealing with since he was molested by Monsignor McCaa finally won out,' attorney Richard Serbin, who represented Gergely, said Tuesday.

'It takes a great deal of courage to step forward, and even more courage to go public and give your identity instead of a pseudonym,' Serbin added.

'Brian overcame that because he felt so strongly about the sexual abuse of children.' 

Gergely and other plaintiffs settled their lawsuit against McCaa, other priests and the diocese in 2005. McCaa died in 2007.

McCaa was described as a 'monster' in a state grand jury report released in March, which criticized how the diocese handled claims of clergy abuse.

He fondled altar boys whom he had told to go without pants under their cassocks, molesting them in a church sacristy, a rectory and even while taking their confession, the grand jury found.

Gergely gave numerous interviews in hopes of encouraging other abuse victims to come forward.

'I was standing in the sacristy and he pinned me to the desk. I was just a little guy,' Gergely told the Guardian in March after the grand jury report's release.

'My parents were patrons. They were going door to door raising money for the church. The community put Monsignor McCaa on a pedestal.'

Gergely had years of therapy to cope with depression and PTSD, WGAL reported in March. 

He told the station at the time he was 'at peace' with his past and that he had forgiven the priest. 

Gergely's funeral is Wednesday at Holy Name Catholic Church, the parish where he had been molested.