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	Study of Alleged Sex Abuse Includes Six Colo. Priests By Jean Torkelson Rocky Mountain News [Colorado] March 31, 2006 http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/ article/0,1299,DRMN_15_4584713,00.html Six priests were reported as alleged sexual abusers to Catholic Church authorities in Colorado in 2005; all of the incidents are at least several decades old and some happened outside the state. The data were reported as part of an annual survey on sexual abuse released Thursday by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. The survey showed that U.S. dioceses reported 783 credible allegations of sexual abuse against children last year, a 28 percent decline from the year before, according to the survey, compiled by a department at Georgetown University, the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate. The survey was first commissioned in 2002 by Catholic bishops as part of an annual accountability program on sexual abuse allegations, called the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People. The survey found that 87 percent of the national allegations involved incidents that happened before 1990. Nine allegations, or 1 percent, involved victims who were minors in 2005, according to the survey. The Archdiocese of Denver reported allegations of abuse by one diocesan priest 25 years ago or more, said communications director Jeanette DeMelo. She declined to say how many allegations of abuse were involved. Last year, 24 lawsuits were filed against the archdiocese related to incidents involving two diocesan priests in the 1950s and 1960s. One, Harold Robert White, was defrocked, and the other, Leonard Abercrombie, is dead. DeMelo attributed any discrepancy in numbers to the fact that the cutoff for submitting data for the survey was Sept. 1, 2005. She said that religious orders reported to the archdiocese that a total of four priests were the subject of sexual abuse allegations: • The Capuchin Province of Mid-America confirmed that it reported allegations against two clergy in 2005, although the incidents didn't take place in Colorado and dated back to before 1985, said the provincial, the Rev. Michael Scully. • The Dominican order reported an allegation last year involving one former Denver priest, now dead. The abuse was alleged to have happened in the 1960s, a spokesman said. • The Diocese of Pueblo reported one allegation made in 2005 against a priest who belonged to a religious order, said diocesan spokesman the Rev. Mark Plewka. The incident occurred in the 1980s. Plewka declined to name the order. The Diocese of Colorado Springs reported two allegations in 2005 that were not included because neither met the reporting requirements, said Ed Gaffney, whose office is in charge of implementing the charter.
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