ALLENTOWN (PA)
The Morning Call
Auditors have deemed the Allentown Catholic Diocese is compliant with a national policy aimed at preventing and dealing with child abuse, according to a news release from the diocese.
Since the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People was adopted in 2002 after the sex abuse scandal, the Allentown Diocese has been deemed compliant.
For its third audit, the diocese didn't receive an on-site audit, but returned a completed questionnaire and supporting documents. Auditors from Gavin Group Inc. of Winthrop, Mass., conducted follow-up interviews with diocesan personnel, pastors and victims, the release said.
Dioceses that were deemed not in compliance in previous audits received on-site audits.To comply with the charter, the Allentown Diocese took several actions, such as training those who work with children in detecting signs of abuse and placing priests accused of sexual abuse in a restricted facility.
Officials from the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests had been skeptical of the audits, saying there's no independent verification of the statements and documents supplied by the dioceses.