Not surprisingly, then, many abuse survivors are suing the church. NCR quotes one attorney who specializes in such cases as saying that there are pedophile-priest cases in each of the church s 188 dioceses in the United States. Interestingly, though, the aforementioned U.S. attorney, who represents 150 victims of pedophile priests in 23 states, says that he has never yet had a client who was eager to go to court. Each one first tried to seek justice within the pastoral context of the church. Its impact can be devastating.
Many survivors suffer profound feelings of worthlessness and low self-esteem.
Experts in the field have listed some common aftereffects of incest on girls, such as running away, drug and alcohol abuse, depression, attempted suicide, delinquency, promiscuity, sleep disturbances, and learning problems. Long-range effects may include poor parenting skills, frigidity, distrust of men, marriage to a pedophile, lesbianism, prostitution, and child molestation itself. It is the rare pedophile who uses physical force to molest a child. They generally prefer to befriend children first. Jesus advice to be cautious as serpents is thus appropriate.