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1/ When Tania Culver Humphrey came to @Oregonian to share her story of serial sexual abuse by her father, Mercy Corps co-founder Ellsworth Culver, I remember her being so terrified that day, she refused to use the news organization’s front entrance.
Ten months later, we - @noellecrombie, @sfkale, @killendave and I - present the results of our investigation into Tania’s story.
We hope that by exposing the failure of individuals and institutions to sufficiently act on her behalf, to protect her, to believe her, we offer Tania a measure of the justice she always deserved but never received.
There’s a lot about gathering and reporting this stuff that never sees the light of day. This is especially true when the subject of the story is a survivor of unimaginable sex crimes. Trust is earned thing. Relationships matter.
This weekend, I separately visited and spoke with Tania’s two children, who have each suffered the effects of not just their mother’s trauma, but from having a group of journalists around stirring it all up.
I explained to them what we did and why we did it. I told them that by speaking out, by answering our endless questions, their mother could finally hold powerful people accountable and stand in the light of the truth.
I told them that their mother was very brave. I told them that they should be proud of her.
For Tania: https://projects.oregonlive.com/no-mercy/
We’d like to acknowledge some of the people who participated in this story, women who hadn’t spoken with Tania for years but who, when we tracked them down, were willing to come forward and corroborate her story:
Theresa deSousa, Kim Weber, Pam Faatz, Christina Anderson Reichert, Monika Sanders, Sharon McIntosh.
And of course Michelle Green, who revisited her own traumatic memories of being sexually assaulted by Ellsworth Culver. Her willingness to come forward required her to be both vulnerable and brave. We're grateful.
And while I'm on the subject of women, there are three whose presence in the newsroom and, in varying ways, my life, means the world. Not for nothing, I wish everyone had a @mrhaberman & @tbottomly in their corner.
The third is, of course, the great and fearless @noellecrombie. I'm so proud to know her, to work alongside her, to call her friend.
Late with this, but I urge you to spend some time with @killendave’s carefully crafted video. It’s a visceral, and chilling, experience. If you think you know our story, you don’t - not fully anyway - until you see this:
The team is still here working and there's more to be done. @sfkale is out of state on another project today, and we've miss him. His thread, in case you missed it, reflects his thoughtfulness and depth. https://twitter.com/sfkale/status/1181692770240454656?s=20
We are with Tania at @Oregonian press plant tonight, where she is watching her story on the presses as they roll. Never gets old.
"Some of you know my story of childhood abuse by my father, MercyCorps co-founder Ellsworth Culver, when I told so many people, and no one listened to me.
Listen to me now, please."
@TaniaCHumphrey, who, in a cruel twist of fate, got COVID-19 https://nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.oregonlive.com%2Fopinion%2F2020%2F05%2Fopinion-sharing-the-real-picture-of-a-covid-19-convalescence.html&data=02%7C01%7Cbnakamura%40oregonian.com%7C4a573fb400784a884f2808d7fe8f45f2%7C1fe6294574e64203848fb9b82929f9d4%7C0%7C0%7C637257763630416260&sdata=OyFEtnVN%2FMcbbf93U4RYKxBukpn6a3YHtm0vs8H00mA%3D&reserved=0
Listen to me now, please."
@TaniaCHumphrey, who, in a cruel twist of fate, got COVID-19 https://nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.oregonlive.com%2Fopinion%2F2020%2F05%2Fopinion-sharing-the-real-picture-of-a-covid-19-convalescence.html&data=02%7C01%7Cbnakamura%40oregonian.com%7C4a573fb400784a884f2808d7fe8f45f2%7C1fe6294574e64203848fb9b82929f9d4%7C0%7C0%7C637257763630416260&sdata=OyFEtnVN%2FMcbbf93U4RYKxBukpn6a3YHtm0vs8H00mA%3D&reserved=0
