Cebu_4_2
14th August 2018, 06:11 PM
Bombshell Pennsylvania report details 300 priests who sexually
This is just Pennselvania...
molested more than 1,000 children over 70 years
The 900 page grand jury report is based on records from six dioceses
It puts the 'real number' of child victims 'in the thousands'
One group of priests is accused of producing child porn and using whips on children
Most of the victims were boys but there are some girls included in the report
The clergymen tried to claim they were 'wrestling' with the children when they were in fact sexually assaulting them
Only two of the hundreds accused have been charged because many are dead or their alleged crimes are too old
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6060525/Pennsylvania-report-details-300-priests-sexually-molested-1-000-children-70-years.html
More than 1,000 children - and possibly many more - were molested by hundreds of Roman Catholic priests in six Pennsylvania dioceses, while senior church officials took steps to cover it up, according to a landmark grand jury report released Tuesday.
The grand jury said it believes the 'real number' of abused children might be 'in the thousands' since some records were lost and victims were afraid to come forward.
Most of the victims are boys but some girls are also included. According to the report, church leaders covered the abusive acts up by claiming priests or clergymen were playing around or 'wrestling' with the children.
The 800-page report said more than 300 clergy committed the abuse over a period decades, beginning in the mid-1950s.
But because so many are now dead or their alleged crimes falls outside the statute of limitations, only two have been charged as a result of the investigation.
They are John Thomas Sweeney who pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a 10-year-old boy in July. In 1992, he made the fourth grader perform oral sex on him.
The other priest is David Poulson. He was charged in May with indecently assaulting two boys over the course of several years. One was eight and the other was 15 when he allegedly began abusing them.
As part of the investigation, records from the dioceses of Allentown, Erie, Greensburg, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh and Scranton were analyzed.
Combined, the dioceses serviced more than half of Pennsylvania's 3.2million Catholic residents.
Scroll down for full report
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/newpix/2018/08/14/20/4F17EE8500000578-0-image-a-1_1534273314701.jpg
+2
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro speaks during a news conference at the Pennsylvania Capitol in Harrisburg, Pa on Tuesday about a Pennsylvania grand jury report that says its investigation of clergy sexual abuse identified more than 1,000 child victims
Interim Redacted Report and Responses (https://www.scribd.com/document/386201839/Interim-Redacted-Report-and-Responses#from_embed) by timothydrichardson (https://www.scribd.com/user/121800649/timothydrichardson#from_embed) on Scribd
Scribd Privacy Policy (https://support.scribd.com/hc/en-us/articles/210129366-Privacy-policy)
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said the two-year probe found a systematic cover-up by senior church officials in Pennsylvania and at the Vatican.
'Today, Pennsylvanians can learn the extent of sexual abuse in the dioceses and for the first time we can begin to understand the systematic cover up by church leaders that followed,' he said.
Church officials routinely and purposefully described the abuse as horseplay and wrestling and inappropriate conduct. It was none of those things. It was child sexual abuse, including rape
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro
'The cover-up was sophisticated. And all the while, shockingly, church leadership kept records of the abuse and the cover-up.
'These documents, from the dioceses' own 'Secret Archives,' formed the backbone of this investigation,' he said at a news conference in Harrisburg.
The abuse ranged from groping and masturbation to anal, oral and vaginal rape.
'Church officials routinely and purposefully described the abuse as horseplay and wrestling and inappropriate conduct.
'It was none of those things. It was child sexual abuse, including rape,' Shapiro said.
The panel concluded that a succession of Catholic bishops and other diocesan leaders tried to shield the church from bad publicity and financial liability by covering up abuse, failing to report accused clergy to police and discouraging victims from going to law enforcement.
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2018/08/14/21/3953532-6060525-Cardinal_Donald_Wuerl_seen_here_last_year_is_the_f ormer_longtime-a-32_1534276866723.jpg
+2
Cardinal Donald Wuerl, seen here last year, is the former longtime bishop of Pittsburgh who now leads the Washington archdiocese. He was accused of helping cover up the abuse
Yet the grand jury's work won't result in justice for the vast majority of those who say they were molested by priests as children.
While the probe yielded charges against two clergymen - including a priest who has since pleaded guilty, and another who allegedly forced his accuser to say confession after each sex assault - the other priests identified as perpetrators are either dead or will avoid arrest because their alleged crimes are too old to prosecute under state law.
'We are sick over all the crimes that will go unpunished and uncompensated,' the grand jury said.
The document comes at a time of renewed scrutiny and fresh scandal at the highest levels of the U.S. Catholic Church.
Pope Francis stripped 88-year-old Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of his title and ordered him to a lifetime of prayer and penance amid allegations that McCarrick had for years sexually abused boys and had sexual misconduct with adult seminarians.
Among those criticized in the report is Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the former longtime bishop of Pittsburgh who now leads the Washington archdiocese, for what it said was his part in the concealment of clergy sexual abuse.
Wuerl, one of the highest-profile cardinals in the United States, released a statement Tuesday that said he had 'acted with diligence, with concern for the victims and to prevent future acts of abuse.'
Some were manipulated with alcohol or pornography. Some were made to masturbate their assailants, or were groped by them. Some were raped orally, some vaginally, some anally
He said ahead of the report's release that he expected to be criticized in it.
The state Supreme Court had set a Tuesday deadline to publicly release a redacted version of the roughly 900-page report.
Some current and former clergy named in the report went to court to prevent its release, arguing it violated their constitutional rights to reputation and due process of law.
The state Supreme Court said the public had a right to see it, but ruled the names of priests and others who objected to the findings would be blacked out pending a September hearing on their claims.
The high court says it'll consider their claims in September, but in the meantime ordered the report released with the identities of those clergy members concealed.
Shapiro said he wants an unredacted report to be issued.
'Let me be very clear — my office is not satisfied with the release of a redacted report. Every redaction represents an incomplete story of abuse that deserves to be told,' he said.
This is just Pennselvania...
molested more than 1,000 children over 70 years
The 900 page grand jury report is based on records from six dioceses
It puts the 'real number' of child victims 'in the thousands'
One group of priests is accused of producing child porn and using whips on children
Most of the victims were boys but there are some girls included in the report
The clergymen tried to claim they were 'wrestling' with the children when they were in fact sexually assaulting them
Only two of the hundreds accused have been charged because many are dead or their alleged crimes are too old
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6060525/Pennsylvania-report-details-300-priests-sexually-molested-1-000-children-70-years.html
More than 1,000 children - and possibly many more - were molested by hundreds of Roman Catholic priests in six Pennsylvania dioceses, while senior church officials took steps to cover it up, according to a landmark grand jury report released Tuesday.
The grand jury said it believes the 'real number' of abused children might be 'in the thousands' since some records were lost and victims were afraid to come forward.
Most of the victims are boys but some girls are also included. According to the report, church leaders covered the abusive acts up by claiming priests or clergymen were playing around or 'wrestling' with the children.
The 800-page report said more than 300 clergy committed the abuse over a period decades, beginning in the mid-1950s.
But because so many are now dead or their alleged crimes falls outside the statute of limitations, only two have been charged as a result of the investigation.
They are John Thomas Sweeney who pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a 10-year-old boy in July. In 1992, he made the fourth grader perform oral sex on him.
The other priest is David Poulson. He was charged in May with indecently assaulting two boys over the course of several years. One was eight and the other was 15 when he allegedly began abusing them.
As part of the investigation, records from the dioceses of Allentown, Erie, Greensburg, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh and Scranton were analyzed.
Combined, the dioceses serviced more than half of Pennsylvania's 3.2million Catholic residents.
Scroll down for full report
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/newpix/2018/08/14/20/4F17EE8500000578-0-image-a-1_1534273314701.jpg
+2
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro speaks during a news conference at the Pennsylvania Capitol in Harrisburg, Pa on Tuesday about a Pennsylvania grand jury report that says its investigation of clergy sexual abuse identified more than 1,000 child victims
Interim Redacted Report and Responses (https://www.scribd.com/document/386201839/Interim-Redacted-Report-and-Responses#from_embed) by timothydrichardson (https://www.scribd.com/user/121800649/timothydrichardson#from_embed) on Scribd
Scribd Privacy Policy (https://support.scribd.com/hc/en-us/articles/210129366-Privacy-policy)
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said the two-year probe found a systematic cover-up by senior church officials in Pennsylvania and at the Vatican.
'Today, Pennsylvanians can learn the extent of sexual abuse in the dioceses and for the first time we can begin to understand the systematic cover up by church leaders that followed,' he said.
Church officials routinely and purposefully described the abuse as horseplay and wrestling and inappropriate conduct. It was none of those things. It was child sexual abuse, including rape
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro
'The cover-up was sophisticated. And all the while, shockingly, church leadership kept records of the abuse and the cover-up.
'These documents, from the dioceses' own 'Secret Archives,' formed the backbone of this investigation,' he said at a news conference in Harrisburg.
The abuse ranged from groping and masturbation to anal, oral and vaginal rape.
'Church officials routinely and purposefully described the abuse as horseplay and wrestling and inappropriate conduct.
'It was none of those things. It was child sexual abuse, including rape,' Shapiro said.
The panel concluded that a succession of Catholic bishops and other diocesan leaders tried to shield the church from bad publicity and financial liability by covering up abuse, failing to report accused clergy to police and discouraging victims from going to law enforcement.
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2018/08/14/21/3953532-6060525-Cardinal_Donald_Wuerl_seen_here_last_year_is_the_f ormer_longtime-a-32_1534276866723.jpg
+2
Cardinal Donald Wuerl, seen here last year, is the former longtime bishop of Pittsburgh who now leads the Washington archdiocese. He was accused of helping cover up the abuse
Yet the grand jury's work won't result in justice for the vast majority of those who say they were molested by priests as children.
While the probe yielded charges against two clergymen - including a priest who has since pleaded guilty, and another who allegedly forced his accuser to say confession after each sex assault - the other priests identified as perpetrators are either dead or will avoid arrest because their alleged crimes are too old to prosecute under state law.
'We are sick over all the crimes that will go unpunished and uncompensated,' the grand jury said.
The document comes at a time of renewed scrutiny and fresh scandal at the highest levels of the U.S. Catholic Church.
Pope Francis stripped 88-year-old Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of his title and ordered him to a lifetime of prayer and penance amid allegations that McCarrick had for years sexually abused boys and had sexual misconduct with adult seminarians.
Among those criticized in the report is Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the former longtime bishop of Pittsburgh who now leads the Washington archdiocese, for what it said was his part in the concealment of clergy sexual abuse.
Wuerl, one of the highest-profile cardinals in the United States, released a statement Tuesday that said he had 'acted with diligence, with concern for the victims and to prevent future acts of abuse.'
Some were manipulated with alcohol or pornography. Some were made to masturbate their assailants, or were groped by them. Some were raped orally, some vaginally, some anally
He said ahead of the report's release that he expected to be criticized in it.
The state Supreme Court had set a Tuesday deadline to publicly release a redacted version of the roughly 900-page report.
Some current and former clergy named in the report went to court to prevent its release, arguing it violated their constitutional rights to reputation and due process of law.
The state Supreme Court said the public had a right to see it, but ruled the names of priests and others who objected to the findings would be blacked out pending a September hearing on their claims.
The high court says it'll consider their claims in September, but in the meantime ordered the report released with the identities of those clergy members concealed.
Shapiro said he wants an unredacted report to be issued.
'Let me be very clear — my office is not satisfied with the release of a redacted report. Every redaction represents an incomplete story of abuse that deserves to be told,' he said.