When Anthony Almeida, one of 500 sexual abuse victims in a recent lawsuit against the Catholic Church, was a young boy, he was continually molested and then raped by a trusted local priest. Almeida, a Los Angeles-based firefighter and father of four, kept this dark chapter of his life to himself until his children reached the age when he was first abused, when the traumatic memories of his sexual abuse started to overwhelm him.
Although Almeida is presently unaware of the settlement amount, he is pleased to be moving forward and hopes to regain a life of normalcy that is no longer overwhelmed by emotions caused by the abuse he endured as a child.
Read the LA Times’ coverage of this story here:
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-jul-15-me-victim15-story.html