An 85 year-old nun was savagely beaten and raped outside St. Titus Church in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania on Friday morning in an attack the police are calling “horrific.”
Triblive.com is reporting that 18 year-old Andrew Bullock has been taken into custody after allegedly attacking the elderly nun in the parking lot behind the church. Police say she was taking newspapers to the recycling bin around 11:30 a.m. when the assailant approached her and asked if she needed help.
“She said that when she turned to look at him, he had a very nice smile,” Aliquippa police Detective Sgt. Steven Roberts said.
But he suddenly became violent, punched her, choked her, and threw her to the ground where he assaulted and raped her.
The nun, whose identity is not being released, was able to describe her attacker. Another lead came in the form of a boot print left in the snow that matched the shoes Bullock was wearing at the time of the attack.
Even though Bullock initially denied attacking the nun, he eventually confessed but gave no reason for the assault.
Assistant Chief Dan Couch told KDKA’s Kym Gable, “The first thing you notice when you look up where this horrific act occurred, is the statue of the Virgin Mary looking down.”
He went on to say that the officers in his department were outraged by the attack and worked with the Beaver County District Attorney to make a swift arrest in the case.
Sadly, this wasn’t the first time the same nun was the victim of a crime. In 2006, she was the victim of a purse snatching incident while on her way home from evening Mass. She not only fought off the man but told him she forgave him for his crime and then gave him $10.
The sister fared much worse in this much more serious attack and underwent surgery at Allegheny General Hospital for a broken jaw. She was released from the hospital on Saturday.
Sister Mary Pellegrino, congregational moderator for the Sisters of St. Joseph in Baden says prayers and well-wishes have been pouring in for the nun.
“As Sisters of St. Joseph, we live and work to bring all people into union with God, and Sister manifests that spirit every day. Sister is a passionate advocate of nonviolence, peace and justice, and each month she conducts a prayer vigil for peace in the chapel of our Motherhouse,” Pellegrino said in a statement. “As we offer continued prayers of healing for our Sister, we also pray for the young man who has been arrested in the assault.”
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