| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"johac" |
| Date: |
12 May 2004 01:47:41 AM |
| Object: |
Deaf Pupils Accuse Nuns of Abuse at Mass. School |
I'm sure that everyone has had their fill of torture and abuse stories
these past two weeks, but I thought that this one should be mentioned
too.
It seems that the RCC did it again, but this time it was the nuns.
http://tinyurl.com/3442w
---
Deaf Pupils Accuse Nuns of Abuse at Mass. School
Tue May 11, 5:21 PM ET
By Greg Frost
BOSTON (Reuters) - Roman Catholic nuns subjected students at a
Boston-area school for the deaf to sexual, physical and mental abuse --
including rape -- according to a lawsuit filed on Tuesday.
More than two years after a pedophile priest scandal erupted in the
Archdiocese of Boston, attorney Mitchell Garabedian filed a lawsuit on
behalf of nine former students of the Boston School for the Deaf, which
closed in 1994.
The lawsuit, which seeks unspecified monetary damages, charges that nuns
at the school, along with a priest and other unidentified staff members,
abused students between 1944 and 1977.
Garabedian said some of the abuse may have been punishment for students
who tried to use sign language to communicate.
He said the Boston School for the Deaf neither taught nor tolerated the
use of sign language, and instead encouraged pupils to use oral language.
"They were supposed to receive an education. Instead they were sexually
molested, physically abused and mentally tormented," Garabedian told a
news conference where he was flanked by some two dozen former pupils.
"If they were caught using American Sign Language, they would be
punished. Some would have their hands tied behind their backs for a
couple of hours," he said, adding more lawsuits may follow. "This is
ugly."
Some plaintiffs said nuns shoved their heads down toilet bowls. Others
accused nuns of washing out their mouths with soap. Some said they were
beaten, crammed into tiny lockers or forced to stand in dark closets.
COMPLAINTS IGNORED
Until it closed, the Randolph, Massachusetts, school was staffed by
members of the Sisters of Saint Joseph, a religious community that
traces its roots to 17th-century France.
The nuns said they only learned of the allegations when the complaint
was made public, and that they would begin an immediate investigation.
"With respect to the accusations of abuse against our sisters and others
.... we will proceed with sensitivity and dignity for the alleged abused
and with a sincere reverence for the truth and respect for civil and
canon law," the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Boston said in a statement.
A spokesman for the Boston archdiocese, which was not named in the
complaint, said the church could not do anything until it received a
copy of the lawsuit.
Several plaintiffs said they tried to complain to other nuns or their
parents but in many cases their pleas were ignored or elicited further
punishment.
James Sullivan said in 1960, when he was about 12, a nun slapped him
across the face and smashed his head into a window, which broke. The nun
also forced him to pull his pants down in front of his classmates, hit
him with a yardstick, and pulled his hair, he said.
He tried to tell his parents, but they would not listen.
"My parents loved the teachers and the principal. ... They felt that the
nuns were right," Sullivan, speaking through a sign language
interpreter, told reporters.
"It made me furious. I had a horrible temper," added the former pupil.
"I really don't know who I am to this day."
The lawsuit also said Sullivan was repeatedly raped in the dormitory
room by older students at the school.
Plaintiff Violet Guertin said another nun digitally raped her when she
was between 7 and 8 years old. Guertin said the nun confined her to dark
closets for long periods and forced her head under water in a toilet
bowl until she passed out.
Another plaintiff, Paul Larocque, said a nun fondled his genitals when
he was about 7.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&ncid=578&e=10&u=/nm/2
0040511/ts_nm/crime_church_dc
---
--
John Hachmann aa #1782
"Men become civilized not in their willingness to believe, but in
proportion to their readiness to doubt." - H. L. Mencken
.
|
|
| User: "Uncle Dollar Bill" |
|
| Title: Re: Deaf Pupils Accuse Nuns of Abuse at Mass. School |
13 May 2004 06:25:12 AM |
|
|
In alt.atheism on Tue, 11 May 2004 23:47:41 -0700, johac
<jhachm@ixpresremove.com> wrote:
I'm sure that everyone has had their fill of torture and abuse stories
these past two weeks, but I thought that this one should be mentioned
too.
It seems that the RCC did it again, but this time it was the nuns.
<snip>
Abusive nuns at a Catholic school? Who'd'a thunk it...
I wonder if they still have steel-bladed rulers? :-? Never been to
Catholic school, but I've seen the rulers. {=-#
--
L8r,
Uncle Dollar Bill
.
|
|
|
| User: "johac" |
|
| Title: Re: Deaf Pupils Accuse Nuns of Abuse at Mass. School |
14 May 2004 12:31:25 AM |
|
|
In article <40a45ae8.730441@newsgroups.bellsouth.net>,
(Uncle Dollar Bill) wrote:
In alt.atheism on Tue, 11 May 2004 23:47:41 -0700, johac
<jhachm@ixpresremove.com> wrote:
I'm sure that everyone has had their fill of torture and abuse stories
these past two weeks, but I thought that this one should be mentioned
too.
It seems that the RCC did it again, but this time it was the nuns.
<snip>
Abusive nuns at a Catholic school? Who'd'a thunk it...
I wonder if they still have steel-bladed rulers? :-? Never been to
Catholic school, but I've seen the rulers. {=-#
--
I went to Catholic school. I didn't see the steel tipped rulers, but
the nun who tried to give me piano lessons has a short flexible steel
rod with which she whacked my knuckles every time that I hit a wrong
note, which is why I never learned to play. I also saw a nun break a
yardstick across another kid's back, hard enough to draw blood. There
were countless other incidents.
Abusive? I believe it.
--
John Hachmann aa #1782
"Men become civilized not in their willingness to believe, but in
proportion to their readiness to doubt." - H. L. Mencken
.
|
|
|
| User: "stoney" |
|
| Title: Re: Deaf Pupils Accuse Nuns of Abuse at Mass. School |
04 Jun 2004 02:21:31 PM |
|
|
On Thu, 13 May 2004 22:31:25 -0700, johac <jhachm@ixpresremove.com>,
Message ID: <jhachm-5D797E.22312513052004@news-60.giganews.com> wrote in
alt.atheism;
In article <40a45ae8.730441@newsgroups.bellsouth.net>,
UncleDollarBill@SpamMeNot.com (Uncle Dollar Bill) wrote:
In alt.atheism on Tue, 11 May 2004 23:47:41 -0700, johac
<jhachm@ixpresremove.com> wrote:
I'm sure that everyone has had their fill of torture and abuse stories
these past two weeks, but I thought that this one should be mentioned
too.
It seems that the RCC did it again, but this time it was the nuns.
<snip>
Abusive nuns at a Catholic school? Who'd'a thunk it...
I wonder if they still have steel-bladed rulers? :-? Never been to
Catholic school, but I've seen the rulers. {=-#
--
I went to Catholic school. I didn't see the steel tipped rulers, but
the nun who tried to give me piano lessons has a short flexible steel
rod with which she whacked my knuckles every time that I hit a wrong
note, which is why I never learned to play. I also saw a nun break a
yardstick across another kid's back, hard enough to draw blood. There
were countless other incidents.
Abusive? I believe it.
It's because they don't get none.......
Stoney
"Designated Rascal and Rapscallion
and
SCAMPERMEISTER!"
When in doubt, SCAMPER about!
When things are fair, SCAMPER everywhere!
When things are rough, can't SCAMPER enough!
/end humour alert
alt.atheism military veteran #11
{so much for the 'no atheists in foxholes' rubbish}
.
|
|
|
|
|
| User: "Colin Day" |
|
| Title: Re: Deaf Pupils Accuse Nuns of Abuse at Mass. School |
13 May 2004 06:54:11 PM |
|
|
Uncle Dollar Bill wrote:
In alt.atheism on Tue, 11 May 2004 23:47:41 -0700, johac
<jhachm@ixpresremove.com> wrote:
I'm sure that everyone has had their fill of torture and abuse stories
these past two weeks, but I thought that this one should be mentioned
too.
It seems that the RCC did it again, but this time it was the nuns.
<snip>
Abusive nuns at a Catholic school? Who'd'a thunk it...
I wonder if they still have steel-bladed rulers? :-? Never been to
Catholic school, but I've seen the rulers. {=-#
I attended a Catholic school for five years (1968-1973). The
nuns never used a ruler on me, though I must have tempted
them. :-).
--
L8r,
Uncle Dollar Bill
Colin Day aa #1500
.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Related Articles |
|
|
