The psychological consequences of sexual abuse by a trusted clergy member may be far greater than abuse by other persons. Many religions see their clergy members as having a direct link to God. Children may experience particularly intense shame and betrayal when sexually abused by such a revered figure. Some have described it as a robbery of spiritual security.

When abuse occurs, children often will not tell. They fear no one will believe that the clergy member would do such a thing or that they themselves will be blamed for the abuse. Even when they make accusations, there may be a cover-up. With the Catholic Church cases, many of the accused abusers were simply reassigned to other parishes.

Often times, when a tragic event strikes a family, there seems to be no place to turn. This is especially true in cases where a child has been sexually abused. Often, the child has not reported the incident for many months or even years and when the truth comes out, the family does not know how to react. There are feelings of anger, sadness, depression and some people want vengeance.

There is no simple answer however when your family is dealing with this type of problem, you can always use a third party who has experienced the issue in the past. We have seen countless cases where the family does not react quickly enough to gather evidence, take statements, engage the authorities or confront the abuser.

If your family experiences this type of horror, contact Samuel Rogatinsky right away and we will get you on the right track to recovery.