Is 'Father Joe' Missing Its Darkest Parts?
Aug. 19, 2004 -- Tony Hendra's best seller, Father Joe, about the priest who saved his soul from drugs, alcohol and reckless self-destruction, has been praised as "luminescent" and "profound" — but someone who says she knows the author well says he left out an important part.
Hendra's daughter Jessica, 39, says the author sexually abused her when she was 7 years old. "It's something that I've lived with for 32 years," she told ABC News' Diane Sawyer. "I guess I just felt it was that I couldn't allow this book to sweep me under the rug again."
Jessica says she didn't suffer every day for years, like some abuse victims do. But the instances still haunt her. "There was one particular occasion when I was 7," she said. "And then there were two other occasions when I was older, about 9 or 10."
She recalls one instance when she was in a room where her sister was sleeping, and she implored her father not to go out. Hendra had a drinking problem, and Jessica was worried he would not come back. He responded, according to Jessica, by saying, "I won't go out, but you have to take your underwear off."
Jessica says she thinks alcohol might have contributed to his behavior. But, she told Sawyer, "he's denied that that had anything to do with it."
Hendra has told other media outlets that Jessica's memories are false and that she had undergone hypnosis. Jessica denies both allegations, and friends say she told them of the abuse decades ago.
In addition, two therapists who treated Jessica for eating disorders also say they believe her.
‘Get Over It’
Hendra has called the allegations "appalling" and "false in every respect." He also says his daughter has a "long history of psychological issues" and that he hopes "she finds all the help she needs."
He also said the timing of Jessica's allegations was curious. She spoke to the press shortly after the book was released. Hendra himself declined to be interviewed by ABC News.
Jessica says she spoke out because Hendra had subjected his life to the public eye and declared that he had been saved and that he had confessed.
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