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48 Whistleblowers

On October 3, 1992, the Irish singer-songwriter Sinéad O'Connor appeared as a musical guest on the American television programme Saturday Night Live (SNL) and staged a protest against the Catholic Church. While performing a rendition of Bob Marley's 1976 song "War", she held a photograph of Pope John Paul II up to the camera, tore it to pieces, said "fight the real enemy", and threw the pieces to the floor.

In an interview a few weeks after the performance, O'Connor said she held the Catholic Church responsible for physical, sexual and emotional abuse she had suffered as a child. She also said that the Church had destroyed "entire races of people", and that Catholic priests had been beating and sexually abusing children for years. O'Connor's performance took place nine years before John Paul II publicly acknowledged child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.

Alexandra Rose Raisman (born May 25, 1994) is an American retired artistic gymnast and two-time Olympian. She was captain of both the 2012 "Fierce Five" and 2016 "Final Five" U.S. women's Olympic gymnastics teams, which won their respective team competitions.

In November 2017, Raisman came forward as one of the many victims sexually abused by the former Olympic team physician, Larry Nassar, starting from the age of 15. On January 19, 2018, she was one of several victims that read impact statements at Nassar's sentencing. On February 28, 2018, she filed a lawsuit against USA Gymnastics and the USOC, claiming both organizations "knew or should have known" about the ongoing abuse. On May 16, 2018, it was announced that Raisman and the other survivors of the USA Gymnastics sexual abuse scandal would be awarded the Arthur Ashe Courage Award. She appeared in the Maroon 5 music video "Girls Like You" featuring Cardi B, wearing a T-shirt with the words "Always Speak Your Truth". On September 24, 2021, Aly Raisman: Darkness to Light, a documentary on her healing from the sexual abuse, aired on Lifetime.

Featured Boy Scouts Child Sexual Abuse Survivor in the Netflix documentary, “Scout’s Honor”.

Margaret Mary Nichols (born September 12, 1997) is an American former collegiate artistic gymnast. She was the ninth NCAA gymnast to complete a Gym Slam, the first to do so for Oklahoma, and the first NCAA gymnast to have achieved it twice.

In January 2018, Nichols came forward as one of the many victims sexually abused by former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar, starting when she was 15. Additionally Nichols revealed that it was her coach who initially reported Nassar and his abuse to the USA Gymnastics staff:

One day at practice, I was talking to my teammate, and brought up Dr. Nassar and his treatments. When I was talking to her, my coach overheard. I had never told my coach about these treatments. After hearing our conversation she asked me more questions about it and said it doesn't seem right ... so she did the right thing and reported this abuse to the USA Gymnastics staff.

On May 16, 2018, it was announced that Nichols and the other survivors would be awarded the Arthur Ashe Courage Award. Nichols' experience was highlighted in the Netflix documentary Athlete A, as well as the HBO documentary At the Heart of Gold.

In a column published March 27, 2020, Nichols stated that she would work as a student coach for the Sooners while completing her bachelor's degree and also indicated interest in sports broadcasting and writing a book. Her memoir, “Unstoppable!: My Journey from World Champion to Athlete A to 8-Time NCAA National Gymnastics Champion and Beyond”, was published on January 16, 2024.

As of 2024, she works as a certified personal trainer in South Padre Island, Texas. She also advocates for victims of abuse through her Maggie Nichols Foundation.

Healing from severe sexual abuse has been a decades-long commitment for Scott, to reclaim his voice, to tame his anger, and ultimately to forgive.

How do you recover from years of sadistic abuse at the hands of your own brother, and at the hands of a pedophile deliberately recruited by your own brother? For Scott Thompson, the answer lies in a profound, bone marrow-deep commitment to the healing process, including years of work at Ottawa’s Men’s Project. It also lies in taking power back from his abusers, a process that included reporting them to the police. In court, the pedophile admitted his crimes. It also lies in restoring his own voice, by speaking out publicly on behalf of himself and fellow survivors.

And it also lies in what might appear to be a paradox: forgiveness. For Scott, forgiveness means relinquishing his anger and hatred. In letting it go, Scott has freed himself, not his abusers.

The abuse that Scott suffered left many scars. He spent his childhood in a desperate search for safety. He found safety in “invisibility,” consciously camouflaging himself so that no one would notice him. Blessedly, Scott also found safety with his grandmother, a grandmother who somehow knew what he needed, who allowed Scott to spend hours curled up beside her in bed.

The abuse left the adult Scott with a cauldron of anger to manage, anger that he often could not manage. His anger ruptured his relationships with his children, and with his father. Those relationships – the reconciliation and healing of those relationships – are now the focus of Scott’s life. He has spent hours talking with his father, caring for him, tending to the bonds that were sundered by the actions of his abusers. Having restored his power and his voice, Scott is now restoring those fundamental connections that make us human.

On January 18, 2018, Biles revealed on Twitter that former USA Gymnastics physician Larry Nassar had sexually assaulted her and that USA Gymnastics had helped allow the abuse to occur and to cover it up.

On September 15, 2021, Biles testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee that she blamed "the entire system" for enabling and perpetuating Nassar's crimes, saying that USA Gymnastics and the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee "failed to do their jobs".

This is my statement to my perpetrator and the parole board:

My name is Logan Gregory Yandell. I was sexually abused by Peter Newman from 9-13 years old. I am here today to convey the profound impact Peter Newman’s actions have had on my life. This statement is not merely a recounting of my suffering but a testament to the strength and resilience his countless victims have had to muster in the face of unimaginable adversity.

Peter Newman was not just a figure in my life; he was my spiritual mentor, someone I trusted implicitly and looked up to. His betrayal was devastating, leaving indelible scars on my mind, body, and soul. The trauma he inflicted has cast a long shadow over my life, affecting every aspect of my existence. While words cannot fully capture the depth of my pain, I will attempt to convey its gravity.

Emotionally, I have faced significant challenges and have been diagnosed with complex PTSD because of the sexual abuse. Despite this, I have demonstrated incredible resilience. Each day, I work diligently to reclaim my life and restore a sense of normalcy. With the support of my loved ones and professional therapy, I have made substantial progress, though the journey has not been easy.

One specific incident I wish to highlight today, which may not be in Peter Newman’s sentencing or parole files, occurred just before his arrest and conviction. He called me at my parents’ home, attempting to convince me not to speak out about the abuse. During that call, he asked invasive questions about my genitals and puberty progress for his own sexual gratification. This manipulation further deepened my trauma and violated my sense of safety and trust. A month later, my parents confronted me about the years of abuse he had inflicted upon me, highlighting his calculated attempt to see if he needed to reveal the truth about my abuse.

Psychologically, the betrayal by a spiritual mentor added layers of confusion and hurt. My faith and trust were shattered. Over the past decade, I have undergone extensive therapy and counseling to cope with the trauma. While I have made strides, the healing process is ongoing. The support of my loved ones and professionals has been invaluable, and I continue to move forward with hope and determination.

Peter Newman’s abuse was not isolated to me; it extended to more than ten times the number of victims initially known. His victim count now exceeds hundreds, spanning multiple states and even overseas. The sheer number and geographic span of his victims underscore the systematic nature of his actions.

Tragically, several other victims have died by suicide, unable to bear the weight of the trauma inflicted by Peter Newman. Their voices are forever silenced, and they cannot stand here today. Their absence is a stark reminder of the severe and life-altering consequences of his actions. They, too, deserve justice, and their suffering should be taken into consideration.

The prospect of Peter Newman’s release is deeply concerning, not out of fear for myself, but for the safety of others. He has taken so much from me and countless others, and the notion that he could regain his freedom while we continue to grapple with the consequences is a stark reminder of the need for accountability. Justice must be upheld to ensure the gravity of his crimes is fully recognized.

I implore you to consider the lasting impact of Peter Newman’s actions on my life and the lives of countless other victims. My plea is not born out of a desire for revenge, but out of a need for justice and community safety. The decision made here today will affect not only my future but also the future of other children who may be at risk if he is released.

In conclusion, I ask that you deny parole for Peter Newman. My life was irrevocably changed by his actions, and the pain and suffering I endured should not be disregarded. Justice demands that he remains accountable for his crimes.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Featured Boy Scouts Child Sexual Abuse Survivor in the Netflix documentary, “Scout’s Honor”.
Featured Boy Scouts Child Sexual Abuse Survivor in the documentary, “Boy Scout’s Honor”.

Jamie Annette Dantzscher (born May 2, 1982) is an American former artistic gymnast. She was a member of the bronze medal-winning American team at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.

On March 29, 2017, Dantzscher was one of several former gymnasts who testified before Congress about the sexual abuse committed by USA Gymnastics' national team doctor, Larry Nassar. She indicated she had been abused "all over the world", and that she thought she was the only one.

In February 2017, three former gymnasts, Dantzscher, Jeanette Antolin and Jessica Howard, gave an interview with 60 Minutes in which they accused Larry Nassar of sexually abusing them. The gymnasts also alleged that the "emotionally abusive environment" at the national team training camps run by Béla and Márta Károlyi at the Karolyi Ranch gave Nassar an opportunity to take advantage of the gymnasts and made them afraid to speak up about the abuse.

McKayla Rose Maroney (born December 9, 1995) is an American retired artistic gymnast. She was a member of the American women's gymnastics team dubbed the Fierce Five at the 2012 Summer Olympics, where she won a gold medal in the team and an individual silver medal in the vault event. Maroney was also a member of the gold-winning American team at the 2011 World Championships, where she won gold medals in the team and vault competitions. She defended her World title and won the gold medal on vault at the 2013 World Championships, becoming the first U.S. female gymnast to defend a World Championship vault title.

A photograph of her with a "not impressed" expression, taken after winning silver in the 2012 Olympics, became an Internet meme. In 2016, she retired from competitive gymnastics.

On October 18, 2017, Maroney alleged that the USA Gymnastics team physician Larry Nassarhad repeatedly molested her, starting when she was 13 years old, until her retirement from the sport in 2016. She made the allegation on Twitter under the #MeToo hashtag. Nassar had been arrested in November 2016 and accused of sexually assaulting female minors throughout his career.

In December 2017, Maroney filed a suit against Nassar, Michigan State University, the United States Olympic Committee and USA Gymnastics accusing the latter two of covering up the sexual abuse by asking Maroney to sign a $1.25 million confidentiality agreement. Maroney agreed and accepted the money. During Nassar's sentencing hearing, USA Gymnastics waived the agreement, at least temporarily, to allow Maroney to make a victim's statement in court against Nassar, who is now serving a 40-to-175-year prison sentence.

On May 16, 2018, it was announced that Maroney and the other victims would be awarded the Arthur Ashe Courage Award.

Dominique Helena Moceanu is a retired American gymnast. She was a member of the gold medal-winning United States women's gymnastics team, the "Magnificent Seven", at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.

In her memoir Off Balance, Moceanu revealed that she discovered she has a younger sister, Jennifer Bricker, who was born without legs and was given up for adoption at the hospital at birth. Bricker is an acrobat and aerialistwho idolized Moceanu before finding out they were sisters. The documentary “She Looks Like Me” from director Torquil Jones tells the story of the two discovering their connection.

In Off Balance, Moceanu also alleged that Béla and Marta Károlyi were abusive and manipulative when she trained under them.

Moceanu, Jamie Dantzscher and Jessica Howard testified at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on March 28, 2017, about the USA Gymnastics sex abuse scandal.

Featured Boy Scouts Child Sexual Abuse Survivor in the Netflix documentary, “Scout’s Honor”.
Featured Boy Scouts Child Sexual Abuse Survivor in the Netflix documentary, “Scout’s Honor”.
Paris Whitney Hilton (born February 17, 1981) is an American media personality, businesswoman, socialite, model, singer, actress, and DJ. Born in New York City and raised there and in Los Angeles, she is a great-granddaughter of Conrad Hilton, the founder of Hilton Hotels. She first attracted tabloid attention in the late 1990s for her presence in New York City's social scene, ventured into fashion modeling in 2000, and was proclaimed "New York's leading It Girl" in 2001.  The reality television series The Simple Life (2003–2007), in which she co-starred with her friend Nicole Richie catapulted her to global fame.

The release of the documentary This is Paris (2020), in which Hilton spoke about the abuse she endured as a teen in a series of boarding schools such as Provo Canyon School, prompted an increase of interest on #BreakingCodeSilence, a viral movement organized by people who were sent in their youth to a "network of privately owned, powerfully punitive, and often wilderness-based therapy programs, residential treatment centers, therapeutic boarding schools, group homes, boot camps, and faith-based academies".  On October 9, 2020, she held a rally outside Provo Canyon School in Utah in protest of alleged abuse and programs for troubled teens.

On February 8, 2021, Hilton appeared before the Utah State Legislature to testify on behalf of a proposed measure that would require more government oversight of youth residential treatment centers and require them to document when they use restraints. During her testimony, Hilton said that she had been emotionally and physically abused during her 11-month stay at Provo Canyon School when she was 17.  She accused staffers at Provo School of beating her, subjecting her to strip searches, force-feeding her medication, watching her shower, and sending her to solitary confinement without clothes as punishment.  On March 2, the Utah Legislature approved the bill, known as SB127.  On October 20, Hilton held a press conference at the United States Capitol, with lawmakers Ro Khanna and Jeff Merkley, to advocate for the introduction of the Accountability for Congregate Care Act, which would establish a bill of rights with protections for children in such facilities.
Featured Boy Scouts Child Sexual Abuse Survivor in the Netflix documentary, “Scout’s Honor”.
Featured Boy Scouts Child Sexual Abuse Survivor in the Hulu documentary, “Leave No Trace”.
Jody Plauché has worked in the field of violence prevention since 1995. While attending Louisiana State University, he served on the executive board for Men Against Violence, a campus organization aimed at preventing campus violence, including sexual assault and physical violence.After graduating from LSU, Jody worked at the Victim Services Center of Montgomery County, a comprehensive crime victim center in Norristown, Pennsylvania. At the Victim Services Center, Jody worked as a sexual assault counselor as well as a prevention educator, and he eventually became the supervisor of community education programs. Jody provided crisis intervention to sexual assault victims on the agency's twenty-four-hour crisis hotline as well as through in-person support at hospitals and police stations.Jody facilitated sexual-violence risk-reduction programs for students ranging from pre-K to college. He also presented numerous professional training sessions for police officers, hospital staff, parents, and school administrators.Jody also served on the statewide Men Against Sexual Violence committee. In October 2002, he attended the White House Conference on Missing, Exploited, and Runaway Children, in Washington, DC, featuring Colin Powell and President George W. Bush. In 2004, Jody was named the Survivor/Activist of the Year by the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency. Jody has shared his personal story as well as his knowledge about working with survivors of sexual assault on numerous TV shows, including Geraldo, Now It Can Be Told, Maury, The Oprah Winfrey Show, Leeza, Real TV, The Montel Williams Show, The John Walsh Show, CNN's Connie Chung Tonight, ABC World News Tonight, and ESPN's E:60.

Jeanette Antolin (born October 5, 1981) is an American former artistic gymnast who was a member of the U.S. national team from 1995 to 2000. In 1999, she competed at the Pan American Games, where she helped the U.S. win a team silver medal, and the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. She then joined the UCLA Bruins.

She filed a lawsuit in 2017 alleging that, during her gymnastics career, she had been sexually abused by the national team doctor, Larry Nassar. Antolin and two others, Jamie Dantzscher and Jessica Howard, described the abuse in an appearance on 60 Minutes in February.

Terry McKiernan founded BishopAccountability.org in 2003 and is the organization’s president. Terry holds Master’s degrees in Classics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Bristol in England. Before his involvement in the church crisis, he was an academic editor and a consulting firm manager.

Jessica Howard (born 1984) is a retired rhythmic gymnast. Howard is a USA Hall of Fame gymnast, three-time National Champion and international medalist.

During her career she was sexually abused during the USA Gymnastics sex abuse scandal. In February 2017, three former gymnasts, Jamie Dantzscher, Jeanette Antolin and Jessica Howard, gave an interview with 60 Minutes in which they accused Larry Nassar of sexually abusing them. The gymnasts also alleged that the "emotionally abusive environment" at the national team training camps run by Béla and Márta Károlyi at the Karolyi Ranch gave Nassar an opportunity to take advantage of the gymnasts and made them afraid to speak up about the abuse.

Featured Boy Scouts Child Sexual Abuse Survivor in the Netflix documentary, “Scout’s Honor”.

Corey Scott Feldman (born July 16, 1971) is an American actor. As a youth, he became well known for his roles in popular 1980s films such as Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter(1984), Gremlins (1984), The Goonies (1985) and Stand by Me(1986). Feldman collaborated with Corey Haim starring in numerous films such as the comedy horror The Lost Boys (1987), the teen comedyLicense to Drive (1988) and the romantic comedy Dream a Little Dream (1989). They reunited for the A&E reality series The Two Coreys, which ran from 2007 to 2008.

During an October 2013 episode of The View while Feldman was promoting his autobiography Coreyography, Barbara Walters said that Feldman was "damaging an entire industry" with his allegations.

On October 25, 2017, in response to the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse allegations, he started an Indiegogo campaign to finance a film about his life to expose the secret child sexual abuse that he claims is just as common in Hollywood as sexism and sexual assault against adults.

In March 2018, he spoke at the New York State Capitol in Albany, New York, in support of the Child Victims Act, which would lengthen the statute of limitations for civil claims arising out of acts of child sex abuse and would create a one-year period in which sex abuse survivors could bring civil claims that were then barred by the statute of limitations.

In March 2020, in his documentary (My) Truth: The Rape of Two Coreys, Feldman repeated a claim that the actor Charlie Sheen had raped his 13-year-old co-star Corey Haim on the set of the film Lucas. The claim was corroborated by his ex-wife Susie Feldman and his Lost Boys co-star Jamison Newlander.

The 2010 case Lewis v. Boy Scouts of America et al. was filed in Multnomah County, Oregon, by Kerry Lewis, a former member of the BSA who alleged having been abused by former scout leader Timur Dykes in the 1980s. In 1983, Dykes had confessed to the local BSA co-ordinator that he had molested 17 Boy Scouts, but was allowed to continue working with the Scouts where, attorneys argued, he subsequently abused Lewis.

In 2010, the jury on the case held in favor of the plaintiff and ordered that the Scouts pay $18.5 million as punishment for their actions-the largest punitive damages awarded to a single plaintiff in a child abuse case in the US. Kelly Clark, an attorney representing the abused scout, had alleged the BSA failed to properly handle the abuse, saying "We saw numerous examples of the Scouts writing to law enforcement saying 'it would be best for the good of Scouting if this could avoid being made too public.'"

Some observers said the case "could have a snowball effect in much the same way high-profile molestation suits against the Roman Catholic Church had". Patrick Boyle, author of Scout's Honor: Sexual Abuse in America's Most Trusted Institution, was quoted as commenting "Until this case, the Boy Scouts of America had managed to keep these cases largely underwater nationally. All of a sudden, it's gotten blown out of the water and the public knows that the Scouts have had this problem, too - just like the Catholic Church."

The trial allowed an American jury to view confidential files held by BSA, although BSA had fought to keep the files secret. They showed that BSA's knowledge of abuse dates back to the 1920s. Reports said that in the US, the Scouts settled about 60 similar historic cases out of court over recent years. In 2010 in Portland, Oregon, attorneys Paul Mones and Kelly Clark won a $19.9 million verdict against the Boy Scouts of America filed by a former scout who had been sexually abused by his Scout leader in the mid-1980s. This verdict resulted in the release of the "perversion files" that had been maintained by the Boy Scouts for about ninety years. The files, which were released for the period 1965 through 1985, detailed the sexual abuse of scouts by their adult leaders.

Matt Stewart traces the growing line of men who say they were sexually abused by their trusted Boy Scout leaders back nearly two decades and finds himself.

“Here we are 20 years later,” he said. “And the story just keeps getting bigger and bigger.”  

In 2003, Stewart and his brother Tom filed a lawsuit that broke new ground in the effort – still ongoing today – to unearth the scope of abuse in scouting. 

The case, filed against the Boy Scouts of America and the former scoutmaster they say molested them as children in the 1970s and 1980s in Tacoma, Washington, forced the Boy Scouts to turn over secret files on volunteers it had deemed ineligible. The records – some of which later were released to the public by court order, becoming known as the “Perversion Files” – revealed that the organization had removed thousands of leaders for abusing children over the course of more than five decades.

Rachael Joy Denhollander (née Moxon; born December 8, 1984) is an American lawyer and former gymnast. She was the first woman to publicly accuse Larry Nassar, the former Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics doctor, of sexual assault. Denhollander is 2018 Glamour Woman of the Year and was included in Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People of 2018. She is the recipient of the 2021 Abraham Kuyper Prize for Excellence in Reformed Theology and Public Life.

Denhollander told the MSU Police Department in August 2016, filed a Title IX complaint with the university and then shared her story of sexual abuse with the Indianapolis Star. Denhollander said Nassar sexually assaulted her when she sought treatment for lower back pain as a 15-year-old gymnast.

Denhollander came forward 16 years after Nassar first abused her, which led to a floodgate of hundreds of other women who came forward with similar allegations against him. At least seven other young women told someone about Nassar over a twenty-year period before Denhollander did likewise, but her complaint was the first to gain traction. Nassar initially denied the accusations, then admitted guilt in a plea agreement and now is imprisoned for the rest of his life. Before he was sentenced, more than 200 women gave testimonies about his abuse in two courtrooms over nine days in county courtrooms near Lansing. Denhollander was the last to speak during both of Nassar's sentencing hearings.

Matt Stewart traces the growing line of men who say they were sexually abused by their trusted Boy Scout leaders back nearly two decades and finds himself.

“Here we are 20 years later,” he said. “And the story just keeps getting bigger and bigger.”  

In 2003, Stewart and his brother Tom filed a lawsuit that broke new ground in the effort – still ongoing today – to unearth the scope of abuse in scouting. 

The case, filed against the Boy Scouts of America and the former scoutmaster they say molested them as children in the 1970s and 1980s in Tacoma, Washington, forced the Boy Scouts to turn over secret files on volunteers it had deemed ineligible. The records – some of which later were released to the public by court order, becoming known as the “Perversion Files” – revealed that the organization had removed thousands of leaders for abusing children over the course of more than five decades.

Anne Barrett Doyle is co-director of BishopAccountability.org. In 2002, before joining BishopAccountability.org, Anne co-founded Coalition of Catholics and Survivors, a group that organized activism in the Boston archdiocese. Previously, she was an editor with the Public Conversations Project, a group that facilitates dialogue about difficult issues, and a vice president of a Manhattan public relations firm. She is a graduate of Harvard College.

The winner of The JP Morgan Chase Audience Award at the 2020 Greenwich International Film Festival, "A Peloton of One is a documentary film about surviving Childhood Sexual Abuse (CSA), focusing on the next chapter in the Survivors' story - what happens after victims come forward.

In the fall of 2018, Dave Ohlmuller set out on a sprawling solo bicycle ride from Chicago to New York. Sexually abused at 12 years old by a priest in his New Jersey parish, Dave Ohlmuller rode to inspire other Survivors to come forward and tell their own stories, as well as educate the masses (and himself) on the impacts of this scourge. Along this 700-mile journey, Dave meets other Survivors abused by coaches, teachers, family members, and like Dave himself, Catholic priests. Through these interactions and common stories, Dave tries to find a way to connect and heal, mile by mile, as he heads back east towards his childhood home.

Teresa Fidelis Lancaster is an Attorney and Advocate for victims of sexual abuse who was recently featured in the Emmy nominated production The Keepers, a seven-part docuseries which is currently on Netflix. She was a student at the Archbishop Keough High School in Baltimore, Maryland (1968-1972) where she endured rape, sexual and psychological abuse at the hands of a Catholic Priest who also trafficked her, and other girls. In 1994, Teresa was Jane Roe in the Jane Doe/Jane Roe case against the Archdiocese of Baltimore. Sadly, the case was dismissed on the technicality that the Statute of Limitations had run. She continues to fight to reform the archaic SOL law in Maryland to enable victims of childhood sexual abuse in their struggle to seek justice.

Featured survivor of child sexual abuse in the documentary, “Boy Scout's Honor”. Author of the book "Finding Foxboro". In the course of writing Finding Foxboro, Averhart went through a near mental breakdown as he confronted his demons. Today, he says, he is better off for it.

Former nun Mary Dispenza is an advocate for those abused by priests. Her memoir, SPLIT: a child, a priest and the Catholic Church, chronicles her own abuse, her years as a nun and her search for healing from trauma and shame.
Featured Boy Scouts Child Sexual Abuse Survivor in the Netflix documentary, “Scout’s Honor”.
38-year-old Nicholas Fish, a father of four, said it’s his children who inspired him to push for legislation in Lansing to create more hope and opportunities for victims of sexual assault.

“I just ask for a fair outcome. I’m not doing it for just myself, I could care less, there's hundreds of victims in the state that deserves a voice,” Fish said.

It’s hard for Fish to talk about the sexual assault he said he experienced as a Boy Scout at nine years old. He said his Scout Master abused him for more than five years.

“Five years and it happened every week, every day,” Fish said.

A new bill in Lansing would change the statute of limitations for civil claims, giving people like Fish more time to file a suit. If passed, the bill would give victims until the age of 52 or seven years after realizing they were abused to come forward.

It’s what’s known as the Justice for Survivor’s Act. Reform has already happened for Boy Scouts victims in Iowa, Alabama and Ohio. Now, Fish is calling on the State of Michigan to do the same. Fish said he came to the United States from Bulgaria for a better life, but when he joined the Boy Scouts in East Jordan, Michigan, that dream ended abruptly. He said it’s cost him friendships, family and work his entire life.

“I came to this country to have a better life; I was born an orphanage and my grandmother sent me here to have a better life and it happened every week, it happened every day,” Fish said.

Jordyn Marie Wieber (born July 12, 1995) is an American former artistic gymnast and current gymnastics coach. Since April 2019, she has been the head coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks gymnastics team.

Wieber was a member of the gold medal-winning U.S. Women's Gymnastics team, self-dubbed the "Fierce Five", at the 2012 Summer Olympics. She was also a member of the gold-winning American team at the 2011 World Championships, where she also won the individual all-around title and was the bronze medalist on the balance beam.

On January 19, 2018, Wieber testified in court that she was sexually abused by the long-term team doctor of USA Gymnastics, Larry Nassar.

On May 16, it was announced that Wieber and the other survivors would be awarded the Arthur Ashe Courage Award.

Featured Boy Scouts Child Sexual Abuse Survivor in the documentary, “Boy Scout’s Honor”.
Featured Boy Scouts Child Sexual Abuse Survivor in the Netflix documentary, “Scout’s Honor”.
Featured Boy Scouts Child Sexual Abuse Survivor in the Hulu documentary, “Leave No Trace”.

Laila Mickelwait is the Co-Founder and CEO of Justice Defense Fund , the Founder of the Traffickinghub movement supported by millions around the world, and the national bestselling author of Takedown: Inside the Fight to Shut Down Pornhub for Child Abuse, Rape, and Sex Trafficking. She has been researching and combating the injustice of sex trafficking since 2006 and is a leading expert in the field.

The Traffickinghub movement that Laila continues to lead, is a decentralized global effort to hold Pornhub accountable for enabling and profiting from mass sexual crime. The petition to shut down Pornhub has been signed by over 2.3 million people from every country in the world and over 600 organizations have participated in the effort.

Laila received her Master of Public Diplomacy degree from the Annenberg School of Communications and the Dornsife School of International Relations at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles in conjunction with the U.S. Department of State. Her work has been featured in hundreds of news articles worldwide.

As a 15-year-old, struggling with severe bullying, ADHD, adoption trauma, and undiagnosed autism, Meg became one of the unfortunate 120,000–200,000 youths who are funneled into the lucrative Troubled Teen Industry (TTI) every year. Over the next 3.5 years Meg was abused in two separate facilities that masqueraded as "treatment".

Over two decades later, Meg Appelgate has evolved into an advocate, activist and passionate spokesperson for survivors across the United States

Ken Tipton is a survivor of child sexual abuse he and his best friend endured as child prostitutes exploited through an international pedophile ring headquartered in New Orleans and run out of the infamous Boy Scout Troop #137. The ring was brought down by the district attorney, Harry Connick Sr., who is the father of actor/singer Harry Connick Jr.

Tipton is also an award-winning filmmaker who wrote and directed "HEART of the BEHOLDER". HOTB is the true story of how religious zealots ruined Tipton because he refused to remove Martin Scorsese's controversial movie, "THE LAST TEMPTATION of CHRIST" from his large chain of video stores.

Described as "the public face" of Baptist clergy sex abuse survivors, Christa Brown was one of the first to go public with substantiated child sex abuse allegations against a Baptist minister and documentation that others knew. Since then, for nearly two decades, she has worked to shine a light on the systemic problem of abuse and cover-ups in Baptistland.

Christa has been touted in the London Times as "a whistleblower of historic proportions." Her work was spotlighted on ABC's 20/20, and she has been quoted and featured in numerous news outlets, including New York Times, Washington Post, Associated Press, Houston Chronicle, VICE, Religion News Service, Tennessean, National Public Radio, Baptist News Global, Christianity Today, and Huffington Post.

Featured Boy Scouts Child Sexual Abuse Survivor in the Hulu documentary, “Leave No Trace”.

Michael Johnson ("Detective Mike") is an internationally recognized expert on all aspects of child abuse and exploitation and specializes in abuse investigation, detection, and prevention efforts for organizations serving youth. Michael was the Youth Protection Advisor/Director for the National Office of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) from July 2010 to December 2020, where he advised on efforts to improve youth protection policies, training, and procedures to ensure the safest possible environment for BSA youth. He is credited with acting as a change agent to strengthen BSA’s “Youth Protection” program, and he led the BSA’s efforts to provide ongoing support to survivors and a trauma-informed response to victims of abuse in the organization. Prior to BSA, Michael served 24 of his 28 years as the Lead Detective and Family Violence/Abuse Investigator in the Criminal Investigation Division of the Plano, Texas Police Department. In that role, he focused exclusively on interviewing victims, interrogating perpetrators, and investigating child abuse cases, including child sexual abuse and exploitation.

Featured Boy Scouts Child Sexual Abuse Survivor in the Netflix documentary, “Scout’s Honor”.

As a child Emma-Jane was told she was a failure, the girl going nowhere; she had a juvenile delinquent badge slapped on her when she was 13 by a psychiatrist. Being labelled at an early age came with difficulties, leading to most people believing she would be dead or in prison by the time she was 20 – although for many the resultant mental trauma from child sexual abuse is prison enough. She is the Founder of StageWorks Performing Arts School and NutritiousWorks; a series of lifestyle businesses for children and adults founded in 2000. She found her personal and professional success in her late teens/ early twenties through many years of therapy. Her businesses were created from her passions; fitness/well-being, dance, performing arts, nature, wild-swimming & writing; dancing and fitness have run through her veins since she was born. She organically became a Campaigner, Speaker, Presenter, and Author on the subject of Child Sexual Abuse; having never set out believing she would ever speak up about her life.

Her debut book, Don’t Hold Back, a motivational self-help book, was published in 2018. Don’t Hold Back was written to encourage her readers to find their voice, and in doing so, to help others process the difficulties of CSA, rejection & abandonment. Don’t Hold Back is based on her own story and highlights how she changed her life around to become the successful woman she is today.

By sharing her personal story of trauma and how trauma responses controlled her life; from bulimia to alcohol, to drugs and behaviours such as maladaptive daydreaming, abreactions, dissociation, Emma-Jane has been able to support many people, including corporate environments with her Behavioural Change programmes; something she sees as a very important part of any professional environment.

Kathryn Robb directs the Children's Justice Campaign at Enough Abuse. She is a lawyer and legislative advocate who has been fighting to pass meaningful child sex abuse legislation across the country for over 2 decades. She is a national expert on Statute of Limitations reform/elimination aimed at providing justice for survivors, accountability for abusers and the prevention of sexual abuse for more children. She consults with lawmakers and governors to write and edit legislative language and has testified in over thirty jurisdictions as a national expert before legislative committees.

An outspoken survivor of childhood sexual abuse, Kathryn writes opinions for local and national press, presents at national conferences and appears on news outlets and as a guest on numerous podcasts across the country. She is a regular columnist for Verdict Justia and participated in the Scouts Honor and A Peloton of One documentaries about child sexual abuse. 

Kathryn is a co-founder of New Yorkers Against Hidden Predators, a coalition of organizations, advocates, and sex abuse survivors from across New York. She worked closely with then-New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, his staff, and New York state legislators to pass the New York Child Victims Act. After a 12-year hard-fought battle, the bill was signed into law on February 14, 2019. The New York Child Victim’s Act led to the drafting and passage of the Adult Survivor’s Act which ultimately led to the filing of civil charges by several survivors, including E. Jean Carroll.

For over two decades, Kathryn served as a board member and legislative advocate for the nonprofit Massachusetts Citizens for Children where she helped lead successful reform of the Massachusetts Statute of Limitations law in 2014.

A member of the Massachusetts bar and certified trainer for Enough Abuse, Kathryn received her Juris Doctor from New England Law School in Boston and a Master of Science (MS) focused on Clinical Counseling and Applied Psychology from the University of Hartford.

In 2023, Kathryn was the recipient of the “Unsung Hero” Award at the New England Legal Award for her passionate commitment to the safest standards for children, and to victim-friendly laws, policies, and practices which uphold the dignity and protection of all children while also holding those who harm children fully accountable under both criminal and civil law.

A woman accuses Gateway Church pastor Robert Morris of first molesting her on Christmas in 1982, when she was 12-years-old.

Cindy Clemishire, the accuser, tells WFAA the abuse continued until 1987 when she told a friend what had happened. Clemishire says she told her parents after the friend advised her to do so.

Sunday, Morris admitted he was "involved in inappropriate sexual behavior with a young lady," though he did not make reference to the girl's age.

"It was kissing and petting and not intercourse, but it was wrong," Morris said in a statement. "In March of 1987, this situation was brought to light, and it was confessed and repented of. I submitted myself to the Elders of Shady Grove Church and the young lady's father. They asked me to stop out of ministry and receive counseling and freedom ministry, which I did. Since that time, I have walked in purity and accountability in this area."

Clemishire says she'd told her story for years and tried to sue Morris in 2005, but her actions did not generate much attention.

She says a pastor recently advised her to share her story with The Wartburg Watch, a blog which calls attention to instances of alleged sexual abuse in the church. The website published Clemishire's account Friday.