When Steven Langston walked into the Diocese of Orlando offices this week, he did not bring witnesses or paperwork to prove what he says happened to him as a child. He brought himself. Looking at a church lawyer, he said, “I am the evidence,” as he pushed the diocese to acknowledge abuse he says began when he was 7 and shaped the next four decades of his life.
Langston identified the priest he accuses and demanded the church accept responsibility for the trauma he says followed him for years. The tense exchange underscored a familiar collision in clergy abuse cases: survivors seeking recognition and institutions insisting they have followed internal rules.
What Langston says happened
In an interview and written communications described by the Orlando Sentinel, Langston said the abuse began when he was 7 and continued for about four years. He told the paper he identified the priest as Father Stephen McNicholas.
Langston told diocesan lawyers he wanted $10,000 for each of the 46 years he has lived with the fallout from the alleged abuse. According to the Orlando Sentinel, the diocese instead offered $10,000 to pay for a year of therapy…