February 21, 2005

67 clergy abuse complaints reported in '04

BOSTON (MA)
Boston Globe

February 21, 2005

The Catholic Archdiocese of Boston fielded 67 new complaints last year of sexual abuse by clergy, including one alleging abuse within the past 12 months, according to an archdiocese statement.

The allegations were made against 40 diocesan priests or deacons and 16 priests from religious orders, the statement said.

The bulk of the complaints involved alleged abuse in 1995 or earlier.

Results of the first annual survey of clergy abuse allegations and costs, conducted by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University, were released Friday by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The Boston Archdiocese spent $5 million on settlements of abuse claims and about $1 million on treatment of victims and their families, the statement from the archdiocese said.

It spent $740,000 on child protection initiatives, including training.

Posted by kshaw at February 21, 2005 06:25 AM