Stop Child Abuse Now (SCAN) - 2391

Tonight's special guest is Tim Lennon from Tucson, Arizona, the President of the Board Of Directors at SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests). Tim shares, "I was one of twelve children who grew up in an Irish Catholic neighborhood and went to Catholic school for twelve years. The priest who raped me was an occasional visitor to my home. He was also a teacher at my elementary school and track team coach." The rape happened at home and was violent and life threatening. Tim shares, “I am lucky to be here. At the time I don’t think the rapist cared whether I lived or died. The sexual abuse ended only because the predator was caught by a parent and sent to another parish.” Later, Tim contacted the leader of a SNAP support group in East Bay, saying “Terrie Light was a life safer–I will never forget her support.” When Tim had twin daughters, he dropped out of the SNAP support group. However, when his daughters were 12 years old, it evoked memories of the violent rape when he was the same age. Tim was devastated, as all the memories of the rape emerged and hit him hard, as Tim shares, “I suffered months of all the symptoms of PTSD, depression, anxiety, nightmares, and months of crying. I immediately got re-engaged with SNAP and co-led a support group in San Francisco.” Tim later retired and volunteered with SNAP, as a victim support person for those contacting the website SNAPnetwork.org. Tim states, “When I was sexually abused when I was twelve, I froze. Now, I can fight back. What happened to me should not happen to another child.”