‘It even happened at the kitchen table’: FIVE sisters were sexually abused by the same Catholic pastor when one of them was just 18-months-old
The Fortney sisters were abused by Father Augustine Giella during the 1980s
He was a trusted family friend who would come round for meals and say grace
Patty, Lara, Teresa and Carolyn said he would bring them candy and clothes
Caroloyn just 18 months when abuse happened while fifth sister didn’t speak out
Father Giella charged with child sex crimes but died before he could face trial
One of hundreds of pedophile priests who’ve been unmasked across the USA
By RORY TINGLE
DAILYMAIL.COM
8 September 2018
Five sisters from Pennsylvania were all abused by the same Catholic priest in the early 1980s when one of them was just 18-months-old, in the latest shocking example of child sex crimes in the US branch of the church.
The Fortney sisters, Patty, Lara, Teresa and Carolyn, said Father Augustine Giella would regularly give them gifts before attacks, one of which took place on 13-year-old Patty while her other three sisters looked on.
‘He was constantly hugging me in front of them, kissing me in front of them, trying to put his tongue in your mouth,’ Patty Fortney-Julius told CBS News. Lara was then 10, Teresa in first grade, and Carolyn one. Another sister chose not to speak out.
Giella, their local pastor in Enhaut, was a trusted family friend who was often invited round for family meals, where he would say grace.
‘Even at our kitchen table things happened in front of my parents’ face that they couldn’t see,’ said Lara Fortney McKeever.
Through his deception, and the great esteem he was held in as a priest of the Catholic Church, Giella was able to hide the abuse for years.
‘I would continually remind myself, ‘He’s my priest. He’s the mediator between God and man. This is okay,’ Patty Fortney-Julius said.
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