Clare Crawley Speaks Out About Being Sexually Abused by a 'Predator' Catholic Priest

Red Table Talk/ Facebook Watch

Clare Crawley is speaking out about her past trauma.

The former Bachelorette, 40, sat down for an upcoming episode of Red Table Talk: The Estefans to discuss being sexually abused by a Catholic priest as a child. On Wednesday, the show released a sneak peek of Crawley's conversation where she calls herself "the victim of a predator."

"My parents looked at Catholic priests as — they held them on a pedestal," Crawley explains, as hosts Gloria Estefan, Emily Estefan and Lili Estefan nod in understanding. "It is very deep in our roots."

Crawley explains that the priest was considered a counselor at the Catholic school she attended — and, during her younger years, her parents "reached out for the resources they could at the time and sent me to this priest."

"I don't think there was any counseling that was done," she says at the end of the clip. "It was a one-on-one time to be a predator."

RELATED: Clare Crawley Says She's 'Learned to Love Herself Deeply' Through Therapy After Past Sexual Abuse

Crawley has previously been candid about the impact that being sexually abused as a child has had on her adult relationships and mental health, calling the experience a "vicious cycle."

"Self love is the act of giving a voice to your truth. So here is mine," she wrote in a lengthy Instagram caption earlier this year. "As a child of sexual abuse, my young adult years were spent in unhealthy relationships feeling unworthy of the good ones. It was a vicious cycle, because the more I chose the wrong men who treated me poorly, the more I believed I wasn't good enough."

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Explaining how her past trauma influenced her decision to get breast implants, Crawley said that "it was money that would have been better spent on therapy to heal my wounded heart."

Adding that she "ended up spending the money on therapy anyway," Crawley also reflected on how far she has come in her healing journey as she prepared to remove her breast implants.

Craig Sjodin/ABC via Getty

"Cut to now. A woman who has learned to love herself deeply on the inside, knows her worth, and will fight for herself no matter what," she continued. "I've learned the toxicity that these implants can cause on our bodies, as it has done to mine. So I am stepping away from something that no longer serves me … not my heart, and certainly not my health."

Crawley added, "Surgery is this week! We are taking it back to Clare 1.0, who is lovable and worthy just the way she is." In July, she gave fans an update with a post that said, "Surgery is officially done + I am on the road to healing!"

Crawley's entire conversation with the Estefans will premiere on Facebook Watch Thursday, Sept. 30, at 12 p.m. ET.

If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.

If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text "STRENGTH" to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 connected to a certified crisis counselor.