WATCH NOW: Father Mark White brings in a sexual-abuse victim to tell his story of ‘all the worst stuff’

Chris O’Leary was 11 years old when, he says, Father LeRoy Valentine raped him in the rectory of a Catholic church in a suburb of St. Louis. That was more than 40 years ago.

Now in his 50s, O’Leary stood in front of about 75 people at the Grand Fiesta Venue on Greensboro Road in Ridgeway on Sunday afternoon and told his story of the physical abuse he endured at the hands of Valentine and then emotional aftereffects brought on by how the church handled it.

“People are afraid of getting hit in the face with the worst stuff, but all of the worst stuff happened,” O’Leary said. “I’ve recovered from most of it.”