BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — A Western New York woman who says she was sexually abused by a Roman Catholic priest decades ago is finally ready to tell her story in court as part of the Diocese of Buffalo’s bankruptcy proceedings.
Ann Fossler, now living in Pennsylvania, is among nearly 900 Child Victims Act cases filed against the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo. She says she was sexually abused by Monsignor John Ryan from about age 7 to 10 during the late 1950s.
“Because I was so young when my abuse occurred, I really didn’t have a childhood,” Fossler said, tearing up. “I lost my innocence quite early, and it has colored the rest of my life.”
Fossler and her family were parishioners at Queen of Heaven Church in West Seneca, where Monsignor Ryan once served. She described how the abuse occurred in isolated locations…