I was raped by PRIEST Joseph Jeyapaul as a MINOR.

When Megan Peterson was 14, she was raped and sexually assaulted, sometimes inside the church confessional booth, over the course of a year by her parish priest Joseph Jeyapaul. So Peterson was astounded to learn her tormentor was reinstated by Catholic Church officials after a suspension of roughly the same duration of her time as a victim. Later, the reverend returned to his homeland, India, when he also appealed for a return to his priestly duties. He was suspended for less than a full year. Peterson said the ruling by the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine move is an insult to her and all other survivors of clergy abuse. The decision to lift the priest's suspension was particularly painful given its proximity to Pope Francis' intimation of a special place in hell for bishops who enable rather than report child-molesting clergymen.

"A bishop who transfers a priest of a parish when a case of pedophilia is discovered is an unconscientious man and the best thing he can do is to present his resignation," Francis said after his six-day trip to Mexico.

Jeyapaul pleaded guilty to sexual assault of a different underage girl in a plea bargain deal where the charges in his abuse of Megan Peterson were dropped. Peterson sued the Diocese of Crookston, Minnesota, and won a $750,000 settlement in 2011. Peterson said she first met Jeyapaul in 2004 after his transfer to Blessed Sacrament Church, her parish in Greenbush, Minnesota, a small town near the Canadian border.

Megan Peterson was a deeply religious altar server and a singer in the church choir when Jeyapaul first raped her in his office. She had dreamed about becoming a nun before the abuse began. The abuse continued for almost a year with Jeyapaul threatening "physical violence" if she told anybody about what happened. Peterson, who was sexually abused when she was younger, believes she became a target because of her vulnerability. In a cruel twist, she had embraced her faith as a way to cope with the earlier abuse.

Here she describes Jeyapaul as a predator whose first attack occurred just minutes after he invited her into his office to talk about books. And she has many things to say to the Pope and the catholic church themselves. Listen, like, share and comment!

I was raped by PRIEST Joseph Jeyapaul as a MINOR. (YouTube)