Four Pennsylvania sisters said they were all sexually abused by the same Catholic priest, one claiming that the despicable acts began when she was a toddler.
The Fortney sisters — Patty, Lara, Teresa, Carolyn — said they were victimized by their priest in the central Pennsylvania town of Enhaut beginning in the early 1980s.
Carolyn said she wasn’t even 2 when abuse began.
“I didn’t realize it until I was 12,” she told the CBS Evening News, in an interview that aired Thursday night. “I was watching a movie of a priest molesting altar boys and that’s kind of the day that I put it together.”
A Pennsylvania grand jury last month documented cases of more than 1,000 kids who were abused by more than 300 priests.
The Fortney sisters said they grew up idolizing the late Rev. Augustine Giella, and didn’t view his kindness as anything sinister.
“He would give us candy. He would take us out and just constantly giving, giving. Gave us stuff, bought us clothes, bought us toys. Anything we wanted,” said Teresa Fortney-Miller.
Patty Fortney-Julius said she was 13 when Giella molested her – in front of her own sisters.
“He was constantly hugging me in front of them, kissing me in front of them, trying to put his tongue in your mouth. He needed to know my cup size. I would continually remind myself, ‘He’s my priest. He’s the mediator between God and man. This is OK,’ ” said Fortney-Julius.
The priest was so brazen, he’d even touch the girls in front of their parents, they said.
“I mean, even at our kitchen table things happened in front of my parents’ face that they couldn’t see,” said Lara Fortney-McKeever.
Fortney-Julius said Giella, who retired in 1989, was found to have poronographic pictures – including nude images of her sister Carolyn.
Giella was later arrested and charged with possession of child porn and sexual assault.
He died in 1993 at the age of 72, awaiting trial.
The women said they hope their horrific tale will inspire other victims to come forward.
“For a long time, we just – we – it’s not that we weren’t close. We just didn’t know each other,” said Carolyn Fortney.
“There’s always this big elephant in the room when we were together – because we – you know, there was so much going on that we didn’t want to talk about it.”
The Diocese of Harrisburg told CBS News that it sends apologies and prayers to the family. The sisters, who have all left the Catholic Church, said they’ve never received a direct apology from the archdiocese.
