HARRISBURG (PA)
NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
August 16, 2018
By Kelly Heyboer and Ted Sherman
The release this week of a Pennsylvania grand jury report graphically detailing Catholic clergy abuse that was allowed to go on for decades has raised new questions about the willingness of the church to let go of its secrets.
The grand jury report named some 300 Catholic priests who allegedly molested more than 1,000 children over a 70 year time span.
“But all of them were brushed aside, in every part of the state, by church leaders who preferred to protect the abusers and their institution above all,” wrote the grand jury.
Despite the growing outrage over the report, however, there has been little move to expand the scope of disclosure elsewhere about how pervasive such abuse may be elsewhere, including New Jersey.
“Where is our state?” asked Mark Crawford, an abuse survivor and New Jersey director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, a national advocacy and support group. “Why are they dragging their feet in creating accountability and consequences to allowing a predator have access to children?”
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