NEW YORK (NY)
CBS News
January 31, 2019
Catholic leaders in Texas on Thursday identified 286 priests and others accused of sexually abusing children. The number represents one of the largest collections of names to be released since an explosive grand jury report last year in Pennsylvania.
Fourteen dioceses in Texas named those credibly accused of abuse. The only diocese on Thursday not to provide names, Fort Worth, had done so more than a decade ago and then provided an updated accounting in October.
The move by Texas church leaders comes months after the shocking Pennsylvania report detailed seven decades of child sexual abuse by more than 300 predator priests. In the months after that report, which came out in August, about 50 dioceses and religious provinces have released the names of nearly 1,250 priests and others accused of abuse. Approximately 60 percent of them have died.
About 30 other dioceses are investigating or have promised to release names of credibly accused priests in the coming months.
In Texas, the Diocese of Dallas and some others relied on retired police and federal investigators to review church files and other material to substantiate claims of abuse.
It’s not clear whether any of the names released Thursday could result in local prosecutors bringing criminal charges. The majority of those identified have died. Some investigations dated back to 1940 while other reviews, as in the case of the Diocese of Lubbock, only went to 1983 because that’s when that diocese was established.
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