Lives are terribly damaged by such abuse and though the testimony against Father Jerry has been said to be damning it appears quite possible that there may be a far wider scale to his predations. The allegations against Father Jerry, which he denies, entered the legal arena last year, when Meadows filed suit on behalf of Bart and William Lynch. Mrs. Smith recalls that in the mid-1970s she approached Father Jerry to act as the spiritual advisor for the lay organization. He accepted and acted in that capacity until 1979. Bart was four, he remembers, when Father Jerry assaulted him in the course of a CFM camping trip.
Violence is the key issue, even more important than the sexual abuse.
I literally feared for my life. Whispering in my ear, Father Jerry said, 'You want to live, don't you. This was after Father Jerry had sodomized the four-year old. I remember blood in my pants and Father Jerry burying them in the woods. Marylou T, a CFM parent, recalls that afternoon.