Survivors' Accounts

Diocesan files and court cases are precious sources of survivors' witness. Legal affidavits are the the most detailed and personal accounts we have of sexual abuse by priests, and the nearly 200 bishops' archives contain thousands of survivors' accounts. These letters and memos of conversations convey the evasions and secrecy of the bishops, and the frustration and intimidation regularly experienced and overcome by victims of abuse.

LaMothe in New Hampshire

This 2002 account was sent to the New Hampshire attorney general after the media reports in 2002 had prompted this survivor to report his alleged abuser, Rev. LaMothe. Significantly, the survivor wrote to the state attorney general, who was conducting a landmark investigation into the Manchester diocese's violation of child protection laws.

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