The two sisters are 12 years apart, but both describe the same disturbing pattern: They were sexually abused by older brothers when they were toddlers and younger, and they themselves went on to abuse younger relatives while growing up. The women, now ages 55 and 43, grew up in South Dakota and Washington state as members of the Old Apostolic Lutheran Church, and they were among 20 former church members who spoke to ProPublica. "Collectively, they described a culture of normalized sexual abuse that spans across North America and multiple generations of church members," write Jeremy Kohler and Andy Mannix. The reporters also uncovered a common theme, as seen in the sisters: Victims abused at young ages who went on to become abusers themselves, sometimes into adulthood.
The former members say the church encouraged them to "forgive and forget" rather than go to authorities, and experts quoted in the story say that can perpetuate a cycle. "If you've got a culture of child sexual abuse and looking the other way and brushing it off and forgiving quickly and not truly engaging in repentance, it certainly can contribute to sexual behavior problems of children, including kids sexually assaulting others," says former prosecutor Victor Vieth, who now trains child-abuse investigators nationwide. Leaders of the church in the US and Canada say they don't think abuse is any more prevalent within OALC than outside it. Read the full story, done in conjunction with the Minneapolis Star Tribune, which includes one sister's effort to make amends with the younger brother she abused.
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
