Hi everyone, i was at Nazareth for 4 years and this is the first time i can finally tell my story.1980-1984. my memories are not fond ones. I arrived at 11 years old. Before i turned 12 i had a sexually transmitted disease. I ran away many times, but the police never understood they were bringing me back to my abusers. I wont use last names, but i feared many staff there whom abused us in many ways. neil, Tony, Brian, Pat. Those were my abusers, but not the one who held me down and broke my spirit. There were good people there, kathy hickey was a good teacher, michael knight came to us in a wheel chair and treated us as equals. sisters alinda and irene were old and brittle, but they tried their best for us. my friends were abused too, and some werent. my friends, scott and keith, Tommy L, lovell, miguel, mike, kenny, most were older but when they closed fatima and they mixed us in lasalette, we got to know the older boys like marcus who did his best to protect me, and jerry, and chris, from the staff whom were the predators. They said i must have gotten the venerial disease from someonelse when i ran away, thats how they explained it to the police. Today there would be DNA testing, and a picture in the paper and a manhunt , but back then those whom i tried to seek to protect me, just kept returning me back there. Downstairs below the snack bar, thats where they kept a toy room, thats where my abuse took place, where my screams went unheard, where laughter and a mans drunken sweat and spit rained down on my neck and shoulder where he bit me hard as he entered me, blood poured down my legs, and i cried, cried so much, prayed for forgiveness for what had i done to deserve this. Still to this day, the church denies this happened to me, the only problem is the list. I sent them a list of my abusers and 4 years after i sent them that list, they started to settle with people i had named. But not me, no not the worst case of abuse ever to come out of nazareth. But it wasnt money i wanted. it wasnt an apology or recognition. I wanted to know why, after all those times i was abused, why they would send my abuser to another church when they knew what he was doing. So the list i sent them now hangs in the balance, i sent them that list even before there were law suits. and yes, brother tony was on that list, and he went to prison for abusing scott, but what about the rest of the abusers, what about george, who broke kids arms, who tortured young boys and broke their ribs, wrists, arms, and spirit. The church can go on denying , but im not going to forget. I am not going to go away. the nightmares as an adult wont stop, waking up in cold sweats are a way of life for me. I am running, running down long hallways, passing those carts that kept our meals warm, running, but i am always dragged back, to be kept on a cold window sill, to be beaten in a closed office, or passed around in a cold dark cellar where the smell of stuffed animals sickens me to this day. anyone who wishes to contact me may do so at tony5teen@yahoo.com my name is Tommy Shay