Clergy-perpetrated sexual abuse (CPSA) is uniquely harmful because it fuses interpersonal violation with the betrayal of sacred authority and institutional trust. This paper examines the case of Father Norbert J. Maday, a Chicago Archdiocese priest convicted of sexually abusing minors, as a lens to explore perpetrator psychology, betrayal trauma theory, and the neuropsychological and psychological sequelae of abuse. The analysis emphasizes the underexamined population of “witness-survivors”: children who resisted inappropriate advances, observed abusive behaviors, or voiced concerns, but were dismissed or punished by family and parish staff. Maday’s behavioral profile demonstrates grooming, cognitive distortions, narcissistic entitlement, antisocial tendencies, and moral disengagement, all reinforced by institutional silence. Survivors—including witnesses—show classic betrayal trauma responses, including HPA axis dysregulation, amygdala hyperactivation, hippocampal alterations, and prefrontal suppression.
