Constant Reminder

By Joseph Baca

Constant Reminder is the turbulent biography of Joseph Baca. In the 1960's southwest, an innocent Hispanic child's world is crushed by Father Clement Hageman - pedophile. The times also reflect an all-powerful Catholic Church and its climate of fear and secrecy. Follow Baca's downward spiral of alcoholism and drug addiction. However, you'll cheer when he overcomes every adversity.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Joseph Baca
• Release date: Jun 7, 2012
• ISBN: 9781476336008

Joseph Baca

Joseph Baca is a native of Winslow, Arizona and attended Catholic and public schools in the area. In his late teens, he moved to California and pursued the career of conductor with a major railroad transportation company. Baca is retired and resides in Maricopa, Arizona with his wife and grandchildren.

Book preview

Joseph Baca’s biography stuns the senses.

Exposes sex abuses in the Roman Catholic Church.

Professionals and survivors recommend Constant Reminder.

Constant Reminder

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2012 Joseph Baca

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This book is also available in print at most online retailers.

*****

This biography (Constant Reminder) is written to provide information on the life of Joseph Baca (Author). The author has used his best efforts to change the names of certain living individuals for their anonymity or secure approval for display in this memoir. However, Joseph Baca assumes no liability of any kind with respect to accuracy or completeness of the contents. Also, the author only used real names for deceased individuals, convicted sex offenders or those involved in documented cases. Joseph Baca shall not be held liable or responsible to any person or entity with respect to any loss or incidental or consequential damages caused or alleged to have been caused, directly or indirectly, by the information contained herein.

*****

This book is dedicated to the memory of my parents – Cresenciano and Mollie Baca. A loving mother and father, caught up in the religious inequities of the 1960s and 1970s.

*****

Acknowledgments

This biography would not be possible without the help of a loyal friend and some talented individuals.

Sean DeNairo Hackley - has been my comrade, supporter and ally during the times that I needed a word of encouragement or gentle nudge to push through a multitude of distractions and finish the biography.

Joshua Lott, Photographer – has a critical sense of capturing mood and body language on film. His photo of me, used as part of the front book cover, captures the essence of a no-nonsense survivor who is in control of his life.

Miles Abernethy, Independent Art Director and Graphic Designer – Miles took my rough idea for the over-all book cover and crafted a dramatic scene that speaks for itself and exemplifies his professional level of work.

Victor Allan Merkel, Freelance Writer – Allan smoothed out the kinks in my manuscript and fashioned stunning word pictures that clearly describe and inform. He also guided - Constant Reminder - through the publishing labyrinth to bring my biography to this ebook.

*****

Preface

Emotional, gut-retching, sexual atrocities have been committed against a certain slice of humanity - the innocent youth of this world. All of them, part of a common thread. However, no matter how similar the criminal act, random abominations make each child’s story slightly different. In recent years, these heinous accounts have captured headlines, not only in the USA but also Europe, Asia, Middle-East, Africa as well as many third world countries. It stands front and center; the injustice screaming so loud, no one dare ignore it.

My story follows a path akin to so many sexual abuses in the Roman Catholic Church. Before I reached ten, in the late 1960s, my Parish Priest – Clement Hageman – had already committed the felony of oral copulation, sodomy and masturbation, against me. But his brutality didn’t end there. After his death sometime later, Priest Clement Hageman’s evil tainted the very sanctity of my parents resting place. Through an out of the ordinary twist of events, his dishonored remains occupy a burial space next to my mother and father.

This monster who proclaimed himself, a man of God, plotted to gain my trust around age 8. By nine, he had started to unleash his vile attacks. I lived in fear of the next time, Priest Clement Hageman, cornered me in an empty room. On Sundays, disgust consumed me, as my family and I sat in church, listening to his empty sermons about pursuing a moral life.

In addition to spiritual duties, at their place of worship, a priest must also integrate into the fabric of his community. As religious hierarchy, they tend to be held in high regard by parishioners. Father Clement Hageman used guile and duplicity to intrude upon my parent’s private lives. He befriended my mother and father, devoted Catholics, and enticed them into running the church Bingo games. This priest blinded my parents to the fact that although he represented the church, ultimately, he was a pedophile.

Many of my childhood friends also suffered molestation from Priest Clement Hageman, psychologically wounding all of us, in ways we couldn’t understand. The church taught us about Francis of Assisi attaining Sainthood after years of torment. Drawn together, we questioned - had we been selected to endure this agony in order to achieve the lofty, god-like status of Saints?

Starting at ten years of age, Father Clement Hageman forced me to drink alcohol as part of his manipulation and continued this perversion until I reached fourteen. By then, I exhibited a pattern of aggressive behavior and no longer fit the priest’s view of a passive, compliant victim. Liquor fueled my anger and drove me on a course of poor choices. Hanging out with wayward friends and falling into trouble with police set me on a path spiraling downward.

After hitting absolute bottom, I thought - at least my exploitation had come to an end. However, when corrupt hierarchy of the local Roman Catholic Church chooses to wield power and influence, no-one can escape their grasp. My circumstances turned from sexual assault to mental oppression.

As part of my punishment, the local judicial system sentenced me to report to, Father James Lindenmeyer, Probation Officer with the Navajo County Probation Department and Catholic School Principal where I attended. They fed me back to the very institution I wanted to flee.

Early on, I realized how naïve I had been to put my trust in another priest. Father James Lindenmeyer failed me in every possible way. My parents, brother and doctor already knew about the crimes. Yet when I divulged the truth about Father Clement Hageman’s pedophilia, he intimidated me into keeping the assaults secret from anyone else.

Wikipedia defines Probation Officer as: One who Investigates and supervises defendants who have not yet been sentenced to a term of incarceration. They investigate the offender’s personal history for the court prior to sentencing. The Probation Officer is also required to have broad knowledge of the criminal justice system and its many roles such as social services. They work with an extremely diverse population and wide variety of government agencies.

Father James Lindenmeyer had intimate knowledge of my case. Yet he ignored all the government tools available to achieve a balanced justice and start the healing process. Instead, he chose to imprison me and bury the despicable sins of pedophile - Priest Clement Hageman.

After the incarceration, my continued punishment took form as a mandatory cross-country trip. The guard who held me in custody on a bus for two thousand miles was Nun – Sister Mary LaSalette. She also happened to be Father Clement Hageman’s sibling, his blood sister from the same parents.

Upon arriving at their asylum of persecution, Nun – Sister Mary LaSalette started her indoctrination of brainwashing and intimidation. Every day, she demanded that I pray the Rosary while listening to her rationalize that Father Clement Hageman’s pedophilia and the desecration of my innocence were all part of God’s divine plan.

When Nun – Sister Mary LaSalette finished with her mental conditioning, the church returned me to my parents. Unknown to my tormentor, she had failed to change my sense of outrage that a moral crime had been committed. But the ordeal pushed me into a shadow world of desperation, mental exhaustion and overwhelming depression.

Waiting for the right time, alone and without hope, I rummaged through my parent’s prescription medicines, looking for something that would end the agony. I found dad’s pain pills, shook the contents into the palm of my hand and swallowed them, eagerly. Call it fate or chance but mother discovered my drugged body in time. A local hospital evacuated the contents of my stomach and saved my life.

Running out of options, my parents set up living arrangements with my older brother, Milton, in California. Finally, in that place of refuge, I started to heal. Time helped soothe the painful memories until they faded into the recesses of my mind. I savored a better life; pursued a successful career, met and fell in love with my wife.

In 2002, over thirty years later, my wife and I were sitting in on Catholic Foster Parent Classes. As part of the training, we were required to watch a sex abuse video. The plot unfolded with a step-father molesting his ten year old step-daughter. The mother refused to believe her child’s repeated plea to make it stop. When she stated, He’s a good man. Stop lying. I had a devastating breakdown. At that exact moment, I couldn’t breathe and sobbed uncontrollably. My wife believed I was having a heart attack.

I’m not a psychologist and have no professional knowledge of how repressed memories work. However, after the incident, we were summarily dismissed from attending future classes by Catholic Social Services. The reason – I neglected to inform them of decade’s old, criminal sexual assault by Catholic Priest Clement Hageman.

No one stood up for me when I was too young to stand up for myself. However, after the ordeal at Catholic Social Services, a concerned and dedicated Priest – Father Joe Hennessey – emerged as my advocate and assisted in my recovery. With the support of my champion, I won a financial settlement from the Roman Catholic Church.

As part of my first step toward some sense of normalcy, Father Joe Hennessey entered me into S.N.A.P. (Survivor’s Network of those Abused by Priests). Under the guidance of talented and competent professional - Therapist Judy Hendrix - we started on