The Hole

By Jacqueline K. Fischer

The true story of how one man found the courage to face a secret he'd been fighting to hide for 40 years. Johnie was a normal kid growing up in a small town in upstate New York. One day a new priest, Father Ed Pipala (or Fred, as he was known) arrived at the town parish and his arrival changed everything. Not knowing that Fred had a history of sexual abuse allegations brought forth by members of the congregations he had previously held positions at, the priest breathed new life into the church and ingratiated himself into the community, only to get to the teenaged sons he desired, Johnie (aged 14) becoming his first target and subsequent victim. Creating a secret club ("The Hole") in the church basement for the two of them, Johnie was groomed and psychologically manipulated by the priest, introduced to alcohol, drugged and sexually abused. After three years, Johnie was ousted from the club, whereupon multiple additional boys were initiated only to suffer the same abuse at the hands of the priest. Years later, some of those boys came forward with their allegations against Fred and he became one of the first priests accused in what would become a widespread sexual abuse scandal within the Catholic church, resulting in settlements out-of-court and the well-publicized trial and ultimate conviction of Ed Pipala. Johnie's mother, devastated by these revelations, took notes, wrote letters and saved every article, photo and correspondence from this time knowing in her heart that her son was also a victim of Fred's, though, despite many opportunities, Johnie never breathed a word of his secret shame to anyone. This is the story about what led up to Johnie finding the strength within himself to finally, forty years later, admit to the abuse inflicted upon him during his formative teen years and how, despite the odds, he survived to tell the tale.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0DCDL4V67
• ISBN13: 9798332715082
• Release Date: August 2024
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 266 Pages
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.7" x 6.0"