NEW HAMPSHIRE
The Union Leader
By J.M. HIRSCH
Associated Press
Thursday, Mar. 30, 2006
Concord – The state's Roman Catholic diocese has made progress toward protecting minors from sexual abuse, but many deficiencies remain, including a failure to ensure criminal background checks have been done on staffers who work with children, according to a long-delayed audit of the church's sexual abuse prevention strategies released Thursday.
The diocese also has failed to determine which workers and volunteers even need to be checked, Attorney General Kelly Ayotte said. The problem needs to be dealt with immediately, she said.
"There's still significant work that remains for the diocese to do and in some respects the level of compliance is disappointing," she said at a news conference. "The fundamental problem seems to be a failure to take responsibility at the top of the diocese."