The night of the meeting McParland was alone at home and had dipped into his dad’s whiskey. Worries about his dad’s health were taking a toll on him. Three or four drinks later, he was admittedly drunk.

The conversation with the Rev. Jeselnick was good — more like two friends getting together. “Talking to him wasn’t like talking to other priests I knew,” McParland said.

At one point Jeselnick began to give McParland a massage that eventually worked its way down to between McParland’s legs. When that happened, “I froze,” McParland said.

Jeselnick did not respond to calls and e-mails seeking comment on this story, but a letter from Jeselnick’s attorney, Brian Balenson, that accompanied a 2005 settlement between Jeselnick and McParland said Jeselnick thought the meetings “were free will and he now recognizes that, although (they) were both young adults, (McParland) did not view the meetings the say way as (Jeselnick) did.”

McParland continued to explain what he claims happened next.

Jeselnick led McParland to McParland’s bedroom, where the sexual encounter continued. McParland claims the priest ripped off his shorts. He said he told Jeselnick no, but the priest didn’t stop.

Looking back, McParland claims several things kept him from stopping the incident.

He was shocked and had been taught to obey.

“I did not even know priests and nuns had sexual organs,” McParland said. “I was taught they are God’s representative and you do what they say.”

He was almost paralyzed.

As the sexual incident unfolded, McParland claims it was almost as if he disassociated with his body. “I thought this can’t be happening. It was like watching it happen to someone else.”

And finally, in general, he was a passive person.

“I did not know how to fight back, especially with a priest,” he said. McParland had never been athletic and did not deal well with confrontation. When it came to bullies and fights in school, for example, McParland said he would always just take what was dished out. He believed that “the best way to have the least pain inflicted was to submit.”

Although some may find it hard to believe, it is not unusual for those who are victimized by priests to freeze up or offer little resistance as the sexual encounter unfolds, according to David Clohessy, director of the Chicago-based Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests. Through SNAP, which was founded in 1988 by a female social worker who was victimized by a priest, Clohessy comes in daily contact with victims across the United States. He has been involved with the organization since 1990.

“Catholic children are trained from birth to trust, respect and revere priests and also that they are God’s representative on Earth,” he said. “These are men who can take away our sins and get us into heaven. They are imbued with almost superhuman powers.”