CBS 2 [Joliet IL]
April 10, 2006
http://cbs2chicago.com/topstories/local_story_100105758.html
(CBS) The Diocese of Joliet has posted on its Web site the names of priests who have been accused — with credible or substantiated allegations — of sexually abusing minors while the priests were serving in the diocese.
Posting the names might encourage people who think they might have been abused to come forward, said Joliet diocesan spokesman Thomas E. Kerber.
Bishop Joseph Imesch announced in March plans to release the priests' names.
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"We have taken this step in the hope of further facilitating healing and closure for those who have been affected by the tragedy of sexual abuse of a minor." - Bishop Joseph Imesch said in a letter to parishioners in March. Photo by the AP |
"We have taken this step in the hope of further facilitating healing and closure for those who have been affected by the tragedy of sexual abuse of a minor,— Imesch said in a letter to parishioners.
Imesch also apologized in the letter for his handling of a sexual abuse case that allegedly took place in the diocese in the 1960s.
Victims' groups have demanded for years that dioceses reveal the names of abusive priests to warn others of their history and to help other victims come forward.
A class-action lawsuit filed in February against the Joliet diocese seeks to force church officials to release the names of all priests and other employees accused of molesting children since 1950.
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