CHICAGO (IL)
Daily Herald
By Dave Orrick
Daily Herald Staff Writer
Posted Saturday, February 18, 2006
The Archdiocese of Chicago is refusing to give child welfare officials information about past allegations of sexual abuse by priests, despite a new vow to err on the side of child safety.
Child welfare officials say that refusal could put children at risk, since those priests could still be working with kids and there’s no way to determine if a priest should be kept away from children without an investigation.
“The archdiocese retains information — and we don’t know to what extent or scope — on children in the past who are now adults who may have been abused,” said Diane Jackson, spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. “And that remains this way today.”
The cases in question involve allegations made by an adult who was a child at the time of the alleged abuse.
Church officials say they’ve already turned over all of the relevant information to prosecutors so there’s no need to give it to DCFS. And, they say, the Catholic church is being unfairly singled out.