Richard Strunck, 40, was sexually abusedby the Rev. Earl Bierman starting at age 13.
Photo By David Sorcher
Sins of the Father
By Gregory Flannery
Cinncinati CityBeat
The stench upon entering the house refuses to be ignored. Richard Strunck, my host and the man who once saved my life, apologizes by way of explanation.
"I've got a bull mastiff in the basement and I've been too sick to clean up after him," he says.
Nothing about Strunck is orderly -- not his housekeeping, not his family relationships and most especially not his emotions. Sexual abuse during childhood creates disorder that can last a lifetime, as Strunck, now 40, wants the world to know.
"I want to put a face on this and show people how it affects a person's whole life," he says.
But he wants something more, something he almost certainly can't have.
"I don't want it to be so bleak," he says. "I want people to see the positive."
What he means is that his life has points of pride and satisfaction in spite of the fact that he was, at various times between ages 13 and 19, the sex slave, pretended spouse, beneficiary and intended protégé of a Roman Catholic priest.
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