PENNSYLVANIA
The Morning Call
Steve Esack, Peter Hall and Matt Assad
Of The Morning Call
“Allentown is definitely under the microscope.”
The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office is looking into allegations of abuse by priests in the Allentown Diocese as part of a bigger statewide investigation, a lawmaker who was called to testify told The Morning Call Thursday.
The Harrisburg Diocese also is under investigation.
“I can acknowledge that the Diocese of Harrisburg has received a subpoena from the state grand jury,” spokesman Joe Aponick said Thursday.
State prosecutors have been taking testimony in Pittsburgh for months in a wide ranging investigation that started with a scathing March report detailing allegations of abuse by about 50 priests and other religious leaders in the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese and a coverup by church officials. It’s not clear how many of the state’s eight dioceses are being investigated.
“They’ve got a grand jury going on in the Allentown Diocese and on the Harrisburg Diocese,” said Rep. Mark Rozzi, a former altar boy who says he was abused by an Allentown Diocese priest in 1984. “Allentown is definitely under the microscope.”
Allentown Diocese spokesman Matt Kerr would not confirm the investigation Thursday. In a statement, he said the diocese promptly reports abuse allegations and has “zero tolerance” for offenders.
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