Aaron Hernandez was sexually assaulted while he was a boy

the Boston GlobeThe Spotlight team has just released the first part of a six-part series about the life of former Patriots Aaron Hernandez, who died by suicide last spring in a Massachusetts jail. It is a heartbreaking story that deepens the first fundamental years of Hernandez's short and painful life, marked by many forms of abuse.

Hernandez's brother, Jonathan, told the World that their father, Dennis, would beat them regularly. The Hernandez brothers "have often been beaten and brutalized" and have lived in terror from a very young age. Jonathan once threatened to call the police on Dennis, and he was intimidated not to talk about it:

"I picked up the phone once to call and ask for help," said the brother in his first interview about it. And his answer was: "call them." And he handed me the phone and he said: "I'm going to beat you even harder, you and your brother, and they're going to have to withdraw from you when they knock on the door. "

Jonathan also said to the World that Aaron had been sexually abused as a child. He learned of the existence of the assault while both he and his brother were adults and refused to tell the newspaper about the incident more. One of Hernandez's lawyers also mentioned that Aaron was sexually abused as a child, although he did not refuse to discuss these details either.

The whole story is well worth your time, and it also includes details about the relationship between Hernandez and his high school quarterback.