NEW YORK (NY)
The Wall Street Journal
August 14, 2018
By Scott Calvert and Kris Maher
Grand-jury report says Catholic Church officials in the state failed to intervene and covered up crimes
A grand-jury report released Tuesday alleges more than 300 Catholic priests in Pennsylvania sexually abused children over the past 70 years, and says Catholic Church officials in the state failed to intervene and covered up crimes.
The scathing, 884-page report details widespread abuse of boys and girls dating to the 1940s that the grand jury said shows a systemic, chronic failure by six of the eight Pennsylvania dioceses to protect young victims.
Prior grand-jury reports found evidence of widespread priest abuse in the state’s two other dioceses in Philadelphia and the Altoona-Johnstown area.
The grand-jury investigation, launched in 2016 by the state Attorney General’s Office, has led to criminal charges against two former priests. One pleaded guilty last month to sexually assaulting a 10-year-old boy. The other is charged with molesting two boys over years. He waived a preliminary hearing and the case is headed for trial, according to the attorney general’s office.
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