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I realize I may offend some with this post, but I cannot apologize. I will give you this disclaimer: I had a brother (that I truly adored) who was openly gay, that died of AIDS-related complications in 2000. I have another brother who, though he hasn’t ‘come out of the closet’, we all suspect he is and LOVE HIM REGARDLESS. Now having said that, here’s where this post came from.
I just read a story from the March 26, 2007 issue of People. It was about CNN Anchor Thomas Roberts. I really didn’t know him from Adam before reading this article, but I’ll give you the basic story:
After living with this secret for almost two decades, Thomas Roberts revealed first to his sister in 2004 what had happened. From age 14 to 17, he was molested by the chaplain of his Roman Catholic high school. This man, Rev. Jerome Toohey, Jr., was very well regarded and admired by students and parents alike. In 2005 a 34-year-old Roberts pressed charges against his abuser, who pleaded guilty to child sexual abuse and served 10 months in prison. “What happened to me was a selfish and disgusting thing to do to a kid,” says Roberts. Toohey was instrumental in getting Roberts into a boys’ school that had once turned him down. After the parents divorced 1987, the mom thought Toohey would be helpful in helping Roberts to cope with the situation. After [in my opinion] far too many overnight visits to Toohey’s home, the molestation began. “It was very methodical,” recalls Roberts of the priest’s gradual advances. “He tested the boundaries.”
“I was 14 at the time. I had never had any sexual experiences and didn’t even know my body could do that. After the first time, my whole body went tense. I was in shock and so scared. I remember Father Jeff saying, ‘It’s okay, it’s okay.’” After the abuse began, Roberts didn’t know where to turn. On Nov. 1, 1987 he decided ‘This has got to end’, so he swallowed a bottle of his mom’s muscle relaxants. His sister Patsy found him and called paramedics. Toohey comforted the boy – and molested him for another two years.
Here’s what struck me in the article: Why did Roberts, a successful journalist now in a long-term relationship with another man, wait so long to reveal his sexual abuse?
You know how the abused oftentimes become the abuser? It’s usually because that is all that they know, whether right or not. I wonder if that is what happened in this case? He had never had any sexual experiences before, so this was his introduction into the world of sex. I would imagine, he possibly had sex with a woman during college or something. But, what if? What if what that mentally ill, sexually perverse, sham of a representation of God Almighty (Who he will have to contend with, by the way) actually caused this man to turn out this way?
Just something to make you wonder?
2 comments:
Actually Thomas was questioning his sexuality before he was abuse and was one the reasons he was sent to the priest. Here is a quote from a news article during the trial
"Toohey, 59, a former Roman Catholic priest and Calvert Hall College chaplain, was sentenced to 18 months in jail for sexually abusing Roberts after his mother asked the priest to counsel her then-14-year-old son, who was struggling with his parents' divorce and questions about his sexuality."
http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2006/01_02/2006_02_08_McMenamin_ExPriest.htm
And here is a title from another article that pretty sum up why Thomas was sent the priest in the first place
"Calvert Hall Grad Accuses Fmr. Priest of Sex Abuse
Alleged Abuse Occurred during Sleepovers for Sexuality Counseling"
http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2005_01_06/2005_06_16_TheWBALChannel_CalvertHall.htm
There are many more articles about Thomas court case you can read at www.bishop-accountability.org/
Here is another quote from another news article
"The ordeal for Roberts, now a news anchor for CNN in Atlanta, began, according to court documents, after his mother asked Toohey to counsel her then-15-year-old son, who was struggling with his parents' divorce and questions about his sexuality."
http://www.wbaltv.com/news/5278484/detail.html
The priest who abuse Thomas also abuse another boy name Michael Goles who like Thomas was sent to the priest by his parent when he told them he was questioning his sexuality
"His parents turned to Toohey for assistance when, at 15, Goles began questioning his sexuality. The abuse continued until he graduated high school, Goles testified."
http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2006/01_02/2006_02_15_Robbins_FormerCalvert.htm
This priest only target boys who is questioning their sexuality and claim to their family he can fix them.
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