A 59-year-old survivor of clergy sex abuse has ended a week-long hunger strike. Olan Horne from Chester, Massachusetts, stopped eating last week as a Vatican summit to prevent abuse began.
Horne planned to fast until the Pope either acknowledged he had received letters describing the abuse suffered by Horne and two others — or returned the letters. Horne said he was seeking transparency and accountability.
But Horne decided to end the hunger strike after Hampden County District Attorney Anthony Gulluni started a hotline for people to report cases of sex abuse directly to his office.
"There is a third party that will now unbiasedly evaluate: was there a crime? Do we need to respond? And validation," said Horne. "I don't care what you are a survivor or a victim of. Until your story is told, and until you are heard, nothing happens."
Horne said he was prepared to go without food for much longer, had there not been intervention.