Former Bachelorette Clare Crawley Reveals Catholic Priest Abused Her As a Child, Claims Church Allowed Him to ‘Perpetuate What He Was Doing’

Former Bachelorette Clare Crawley said she was sexually abused by a Catholic priest when she was in first grade.

Crawley also said that when her parents found out, they sued the Catholic Church, who then moved the priest to another church, where he abused other children.

In a Red Table Talk Facebook video that aired on Thursday, Crawley told host Gloria Estefan, “I believe I was right around 5 or 6 years old — when I was in first grade. I grew up going to a Catholic school when I was a victim of a predator.”

She said her parents sent her to the priest for counseling due to her being “painfully shy” to the extent that she would “pee [her] pants instead of ask to go to the restroom.”

“I don’t think there was any counseling that was done,” Crawley said. “It was one-on-one time to be a predator.”

Crawley said she initially didn’t tell her parents “because this was somebody you respected.”

“They can no wrong,” she said. “This was when you didn’t hear about sexual abuse in the church.”

Crawley’s family found out three years later, describing it as “panic and it was flipping my moms world upside down.” Her family then sued the Church, who according to Crawley, “essentially said we will do whatever it takes to keep this quiet, we will move him out of the church.”

“But when the church said they had moved him out of the church, they had moved him to one church over,” she continued. “He did it to more children and the church allowed him — knowing he was a predator — to perpetuate what he was doing.”

In the interview, Crawley revealed her mom had been abused too, which caused her to be treated slightly differently than her siblings as a child prior to her mom telling her about her own experience.

“These predators bank on us being silent,” Crawley said. “These predators bank on us not saying anything and not opening our mouth. And that gives them that power.”

“And thats why after 39 years, instead of letting it affect me negatively I thought how do I take the power back?” she continued. “Because for so long, the weight that I was carrying was shame, embarrassment, feeling not worthy of the church standing up for me. And now I thought, you know what, this is not my burden to carry anymore. What I’m going to carry is being a survivor.”

Watch above, via Red Table Talk