PENNSYLVANIA
ABC 27
By Dave Marcheskie
HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) – The lead prosecutor in a grand jury investigation that alleges widespread child sexual abuse in the Altoona-Johnstown Catholic diocese is calling for changes to the state law that sets time limits on charging offenders.
The grand jury found two former bishops worked to conceal the abuse of hundreds of children by at least 50 priests and other religious leaders for 40 years or more.
“What struck me was in some ways the way that it happened in broad daylight,” Deputy Attorney General Daniel Dye said. “Some of these priests were seen in groups of young boys in parishes and they got away with it because they were priests.”
Dye said the attorney general’s office began to investigate in 2014 when the Cambria County district attorney’s office referred the case to the state, citing a conflict of interest because the DA is Catholic. He said the county was investigating sex abuse allegations against a friar when authorities in the DA’s office realized the scope.
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