New Novel and Explosive Bombshell, “SHAYLA,” From Author Regina LaFrance Lifts Controversial Veil on Long-Held Trauma and Reveals All as Sexually Violated Child at Hands of Pedophile Priest
Inspired by the real-life tragic events of author Regina LaFrance, SHAYLA, a semi-autobiographical novel, spans over four decades to a time when she was robbed of her childhood at the tender age of nine—violently raped by her predator, the esteemed priest from her old village in the Azores of Portugal, who had threatened and forced her to “do her duty.” By age 10 she became pregnant with his baby and was further forced into a barbaric abortion in the priest’s private home. The truth is stranger than fiction that sometimes follows our precious young home.
Gearing to release her explosive tell-all novel, SHAYLA is LaFrance’s unabashed depiction of what happened to her as a child when she was sexually attacked by her pedophile priest. In SHAYLA, LaFrance holds nothing back and takes off the gloves as she reveals the traumatic series of heinous rapes committed unto her—at a time of innocence when she was too young to speak up, feared for shame, and was reminded to “do her duty” and be a “good girl” by her threatening predator, the village priest.
SHAYLA is slated for release in early Fall 2023 and LaFrance invites readers to draw their own conclusions. “It’s all there! Based on real events and novelized to where only the names have been changed, SHAYLA is a shattering account that takes on the persona of LaFrance as a child—when her nightmare with the village priest started to unfold and escalate to unfathomable repeated rapes. It is unconscionable what her little body had to endure and suffer at the violent hands of her pedophile. What he did to LaFrance in real life (as exposed in her book) can never be undone and has left her traumatized for the rest of her living experience.
How could Shayla’s life (LaFrance’s) ever be the same again? After her first violent sexual attack at age nine… after her childhood pregnancy by age ten… after her forced barbaric abortion on the priest’s kitchen table in the home he shared with his mother… and after the ultimate gruesome burial of her aborted baby in the dead of night at the cemetery conveniently located next to the priest’s church. It all reads like an incredible movie. However this story actually happened and an ultimate film adaptation of SHAYLA is not far-fetched; if not already widely anticipated as the next destined course for bringing this sensitive story to light.
The truth is stranger than fiction that sometimes follows our precious young home.
It was a dismal cold rainy night when young Shayla was forced onto the cemetery grounds by the priest, as she carried a small wooden box given by the priest’s mother right after the unimaginable had happened—the brutal abortion on Shayla’s weak small body of still only a child. Young Shayla had no idea why she was next being brought to the cemetery. It wasn’t long after walking onto the grounds before she would have her answer.
Young Regina LaFrance when she was only 6 years old, still a happy little girl (then) living with her parents and sister… LaFrance was totally unaware of the looming violent rapes she would suffer only three short years later, by age 9, at the hands of her village priest (a hero in her parents’ eyes who were oblivious to subjecting their daughter to a pedophile, the priest, when they insisted she take music lessons with him)… And then the nightmare began.
Alone with the priest, he forced her to dig a small grave, then drop the box at the bottom of the freshly dug hole, and ripped off her underwear as he commanded she stand directly over the hole. They waited for the aborted fetus, his baby, to “drop” into the lowered box. In a state of shock, little Shayla was mortified and still suffering in pain from her brutal abortion with a sharp wire object—as arranged by the priest’s mother. Considering his violent rapes forced upon her, ultimately impregnating her fragile young core, Shayla was confounded by the madness of such a monster who, regardless of his vile acts, still wanted to give a proper burial to his unborn child—his one humane gesture in all the pain and violence he had inflicted upon her. The events leading up to, and after, this horrific night would continue to haunt Shayla.
The book’s reading experience moves in ebbs and flows, between Shayla’s childhood more than forty years ago, to present day adult Shayla continuing to run from her haunted past and trying to find healing—still gravely scared from being sexually brutalized by the village priest all those years ago. She ultimately created a new life for herself in America. Though her trauma never went away.
A supposed Good Samaritan who was adored by the locals, the village priest was recognized as a hero and quite revered among Shayla’s tight-knit community where everyone knew everyone, and everything about everyone; to a point. Alas, Shayla and the other young girls before her, also victimized by the priest, were too afraid to speak up against his vile threats. And yet, they knew the priest’s dirty secret had to be exposed. Parents needed to be warned to keep their little girls aways from him.
The priest is now deceased, including LaFrance’s own father (a religious man and a staunch loyalist to the priest), who had originally encouraged, and insisted, she take music lessons with the priest when she was a young little girl—despite her attempted pleas to not go. She was given no choice but to simply be a “good girl” and do as told. This incredible story could have been prevented, if only her parents would have listened. With no one left to blame, she would grow into her adult years with only herself to blame for the shame she felt for so long. She never had the strength or courage to share her story, until now.
Her predator would force her to do her duty, and the unthinkable. Too young, too weak, too late... Her chastity taken away from her, Shayla knew her life would be forever damaged.
SHAYLA is an awakening and a release toward finding emotional freedom. It is also a rebel call shout-out for other victims who may have been abused to come forward and speak up. “The longer this escalating issue goes unnoticed or is unaddressed, the more vicious attacks on our young and innocent will continue to happen,” encourages LaFrance. “Then it will be swept over like it never happened, just like in my own unfortunate experience. This critical issue with abusers is not going to go away on its own. We all need to band together and speak up. We need to get louder! It’s either doing something or considering the alternative… When it is suddenly too late and we have lost another precious youth, tragically violated beyond survival.”
LaFrance has already begun to take steps with the church from her former village in the Azores; seeking justice for all her hardship and loss of quality of life directly affected as a result of her unimaginable ordeal at the hands of her old priest. Already shunned and disregarded so soon in her attempt with the church to be heard, like the many others before her who tried the same appeal to the church as well, LaFrance has issued a formal declaration and sworn deposition about the events of her young life when the priest had started to rape her repeatedly.
When LaFrance issued a sworn statement to the church with a demand for justice for her traumatic and undue sexual violation at the hands of her former priest, her appeal went unheeded and unwarranted. Instead, the church in Portugal formed a committee of experts and shrinks; offering free counseling to not only the victims, but to the abusers as well.
“I question the church’s contradictory offering for resolving this issue,” demands Manuel Azevedo, legal advisor to LaFrance. "The Church must compensate victims for the sins it committed.”
A major television star from Portugal has further appeared on the nation’s main TV station, RTP1, calling out and denouncing church pedophiles, with a demand for justice through expulsion and compensation.
“It makes me sick to my stomach that they were welcoming all youths from around the world for the recent World Youth Day,” states LaFrance. “But they didn't as much as address my sworn statement. What about me and what I was put through by one the church’s very own, my former priest? What about my youth that was robbed from me? I will never have that back! Never! Where is my justice that I deserve?”
The release of SHAYLA marks only the beginning of LaFrance’s fight for justice and for recognition of all her suffering—an issue further long documented in the U.S. as well. It is her mission to keep raising awareness, her public outcry, to put a spotlight on this ongoing issue of abuse within the church.
“The realities of child abuse are alarming beyond belief.” LaFrance’s intention for writing her book is to help build a needed consciousness among all parents raising children. SHAYLA is only one story, her story, but it should incite concern to all fathers and mothers—to help prevent, and recognize, when their child may be in fear of speaking up.
LaFrance adds, “There will always be signs of distress when child abuse occurs. Children don’t always communicate verbally. So it’s important to watch for signs of change in their behavior. I am proud to dedicate ‘Shayla’ to the survivors of abuse and to help provide an outlook on hope toward healing and finding emotional freedom. May the pages within my book speak to your heart. We need to do everything within our power to develop a keen awareness and sensitivity to the alarming tragedy of child abuse. If you are a parent, it is your responsibility to protect your children. Pay attention and listen. They may be trying to tell you something… is wrong.”
LaFrance currently lives in North Carolina with her husband, Dan; both transplants from Boston where they met.
Stay tuned for LaFrance’s explosive book release, SHAYLA, coming this Fall and already deemed for Hollywood film development interest.
“To all the people who have fallen victim to abuse as children and never had a voice to speak up. I hear you. I feel you. And I am at one with you, because I am you.”