Northwest Herald: 20 questions with Tom Paciorek

“Wimpy” Paciorek stands tall…

13. Why are you as open about being abused as you are?

If I didn’t do it, I’d feel like such a coward. My predator [later] was given a parish, and little kids would have been exposed to danger. I testified for a guy who brought charges that were dropped because of a statute of limitations, but when the church was giving [the priest] a parish, I had to speak up. The Detroit Free Press wanted to do a story, and I was still apprehensive. But they say you need to relive your worst moments of abuse to start healing, so I did – even if it was 30 years after the fact. I went for a jog, and went through being held captive, basically, for three days, in my mind and started crying – they say you’re not supposed to shed tears, that men don’t do that. I started crying buckets. And I heard a voice say, “It’s over.” I asked, “Is that you, God? [Laughs].” But I had my sign.