Church Predator Abuse Overview

Clergy Sexual Abuse includes a range of immoral and heinous actions often commited against young children and teens by predatory priests or other church members involving sexual assault of varying amounts. The assault may be a one-off, non-consensual scroll barevent or it may include numerous acts inside an ongoing interaction. For instance, a continuing “trusting” relationship with a child created by the predatory behavior of a church associate, blanketed with the trust and reverence provided to a member of the clergy, leading to non-consensual sexual abuse acts of molestation.

In most claimed Priest or Clergy Sexual Abuse scenarios, the short-coming by the Church member’s superior to completely, adequately and promptly disclose the offense to police and other authorities, or its further failure to investigate, cope with and deal entirely with the occurrence amplifies the effects on the assault survivor, the community and potentially others. Recent Priest Sexual Abuse cases reported in the press uncover these short-comings, including “pass-the-trash” scenarios when the abuser oftentimes a clergy in the Catholic Church, is silently moved from one church to another merely to continue his predatory, criminal action on an unaware parish community.

Priest and Clergy Sexual Abuse and Retribution
Not a week goes by without a news headline reporting regarding sexual abuse and molestation of children by predator priests, or the effects of the abuse on the survivors and their families. If you are a victim of sexual abuse from a priest or other church member, these stories are likely to act as an echo chamber, reverberating the horror, embarrassment, guilt and various unwanted emotions hurting your well-being. Encouraged by the social movement and other channels that encourage victims to disclose the abuse they experienced, survivors of assault are increasingly turning to the legal system to compensate them for the lifelong damage and injury they have suffered.

If you are a survivor of abuse perpetrated by a member of the church, the result of the abuse on your life and foundational belief system can be immeasurable. Regardless, holding the responsible person and institutions accountable for their crimes and indifference can offer an amount of justice and recompense to assault survivors. Commonly, victims can assert their legal rights through confidential mediation thereby avoiding the need for litigation. However, if litigation is required, a case might be filed where the victim can remain anonymous.

Abusive Behavior
All abusers, to varying amounts, employ predatory tactics that are generally known as grooming, focusing on a possible abuse victim. Following is a survey of grooming behaviors exhibited by predators who are in a position of authority in relation to the subordinate young child.

Grooming
Grooming is a major piece of a predator’s ploy. In a religious environment, the clergy member is viewed as God’s representative. Within this environment, the predator frequently works closely with small numbers of children, identifying each child’s needs, weaknesses and situations. Once a victim is identified, these vulnerabilities – like tumultuous family setting, loneliness, low self-esteem, emotional neediness, attention-seeking – might be systematically exploited in the following ways:

Trust
An assaulter will first try to gain the child’s trust. This strategy is most difficult to discern as church communities are often tight-knit and personal interaction with clergy is commonplace. Here, the predator can feign genuine interest in the child’s wellness and groeth – both emotional and religious.

Reliance
As a predator establishes a trusting relationship with the potential target and oftentimes their family members, the child will start to rely more and more on the predator for any need it is that the predator is exploiting and fulfilling. The victim may devote increased time with the priest, feeling more comfortable with the relationship and counting on its stability and security. In addition to attention and affection, the possible target may receive presents from the predator, including valuable, intangible gifts like blessings and special recognition.
Isolation
As the grooming progresses, the predator may work to isolate the potential victim. This could mean individual counseling meetings, meals or other methods of one-on-one isolated encounters.
Sexualization
The predator will begin to de-sensitize the child from reacting negatively to touching, caressing and various behaviors that lead to sexual interaction. This might begin with crossing the physical-touch barrier, or verbally, with inappropriate messages to determine the victim’s response to the progression. This will escalate until the relationship gets to one of a physical, sexual nature.
Maintenance
Once the sexual relationship is created, the predator will try to keep control of the child and the continuing interaction. The predator may likely seek to manipulate the child by continuing to make the target feel special and worthy. The predator will continue to exploit the victim by whatever means needed to maintain the inappropriate physical relationship.

Impact on Clergy Abuse Survivors

The effect of childhood assault on the survivor can be overwhelming and life-altering. Many priest abuse survivors suffer from lifelong effects of the abuse including depression, disturbed sleeping, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, low self-esteem, suicidal thoughts, substance abuse and eating patterns, and difficulty creating and maintaining vibrant relationships. Individualized treatment and support groups can assist survivors overcome these effects.

Legally, a survivor of Clergy Sexual Assault can gain financial compensation from the abuser and, more commonly, from the religious organization for its failure to shield the victim from the abuse, as well as failures or deficiencies in its method of reviewing and responding to reports of assault. If clergy lawsuit Hartford Connecticut are a survivor of Priest or Clergy Sexual Assault and would like to confidentially discuss your experience and your legal options, we are ready to talk with you.