Sexual Abuse Blog -

Local Catholic High School Renames Auditorium

When Sister Francis Marie Yocum was a music teacher at The Catholic High School of Baltimore in the 1950s, she wrote the school song. But after her name appeared in the Attorney General’s sex abuse report, her name will no longer be on the school’s auditorium. In 2012, a 75-year-old woman reported that Yocum sexually...

Common Physical Effects of Childhood Sexual Abuse on Women

Exact numbers are difficult to pinpoint, but as many as 40% of American children experience some form of sexual abuse. In a significant number of cases, children experience ongoing abuse, often at the hands of a parent, caregiver, or adult in a position of authority. The betrayal of trust, not to mention the act itself,...

Jehovah’s Witnesses Sex Abuse Exposed

After a four-year investigation, a Pennsylvania grand jury recently indicted nine men on charges connected to long-term sexual abuse in the Jehovah’s Witness church. Critics say church elders have treated child sexual abuse as a sin rather than a crime, carefully documenting cases in internal files, but not reporting allegations to authorities and sometimes letting...

Sexual Abuse and the Five Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Responses

Sexual abuse survivors, as well as people who witness these activities, often develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Contrary to popular belief, PTSD is not a processing disorder that randomly affects some victims and leaves others untouched. Instead, PTSD is a stress-related brain injury. Extreme stress enlarges the amygdala and squeezes out the cerebral cortex. The...

Top-Five Reasons Childhood Sexual Abuse Survivors Do Not Immediately Come Forward

Delayed reporting of childhood sexual abuse is extremely common. Researchers have known this for years. Unfortunately, the law does not keep up with science very well. In recent years, several states have altered their respective statute of limitations laws in favor of survivors, including Maryland. A statute of limitations (SOL) limits a victim’s right to...

No More Adverse Childhood Event Statue of Limitations in Maryland

In the wake of a sweeping report detailing long-term childhood sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, Governor Wes More signed a provision that ended the statute of limitations (SOL) for institutional adverse childhood event (ACE) sexual abuse claims. “There is no statute of limitations on the hurt that endures for decades after someone is assaulted,”...

MD Attorney General Finally Releases Sex Abuse Report

After many delays, Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown published a 1,000-page report which detailed an “astonishing” amount of child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church in Maryland over the past 80 years. The report paints a damning picture of the archdiocese, which is the oldest Roman Catholic diocese in the country and spans much of...

Catholic Church Failed to Block Sex Abuses Cases at the Statehouse

The Archdiocese of Maryland paid lobbyists over $200,000 in an apparently failed effort to defeat a statute of limitations forgiveness measure and other pro-victim laws. Professional lobbyists are people whose business is trying to influence legislation, regulation, or other government decisions, actions, or policies on behalf of a group or individual who hires them. Individuals...

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