PENNSYLVANIA
The Morning Call
Steve Esack and Laurie Mason Schroeder
Of The Morning Call
Nationwide, grand juries were used to investigate abuse claims against Roman Catholic priests in just seven places. The Lehigh Valley was not one of them.
Instead, Valley prosecutors in 2002 asked the Allentown Diocese for its priest-abuse files after then-Bishop Edward Cullen announced he was removing a few priests from active duty. The diocese serves 270,000 Catholics in Lehigh, Northampton, Carbon, Berks and Schuylkill counties.
In 2002, the diocese turned over to the district attorneys in the five-county area every file it had involving any abuse claim, spokesman Matt Kerr said. At that time, Kerr said, the diocese also promised to report to law enforcement every sex abuse claim, no matter how old.
After his review, Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin said in 2002 that eight abuse claims had occurred in Lehigh County but could not be prosecuted because of deaths or the cases were too old.
“I am satisfied that the Diocese of Allentown has fully cooperated with my request for information,” Martin said then. “I see no necessity to invoke the powers of an investigating grand jury. In my view, there is no need to seek by subpoena that which has already been provided voluntarily.”
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