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4,450 US priests accused of child sex abuse
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-02-17 10:14 Children accused more than 4,000 priests of sexual
abuse between 1950 and 2002, according to a draft survey commissioned by the
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
 The survey, to be released February 27, found that children
made more than 11,000 allegations of sexual abuse by priests. The 4,450 accused
priests represent about 4 per cent of the 110,000 priests who served during the
52 years covered by the study, CNN reported.
The report is based on a nationwide survey of church records, and was
compiled by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice for the conference. The
bishops' conference commissioned the survey to get a better understanding of the
scope of the crisis.
CNN reviewed a draft copy of the survey. Officials said it may be slightly
changed before its release.
 |
| John Geoghan, a defrocked Roman Catholic
priest and convicted child molester, died on August 23,
2003 after he was assaulted in prison.
[AP] | More than half of the accused priests had
only one allegation against them. Nearly 25 per cent, or 1,112 priests, had two
or three allegations, and almost 13 per cent, or 578 priests, had four to nine
allegations, according to the draft report. Nearly 3 per cent, or 133 of the
priests, had 10 or more allegations.
The report said that 6,700 of the 11,000 allegations were investigated and
substantiated, and another 1,000 were unsubstantiated. The remaining 3,300 were
not investigated because the priests involved had died by the time the
allegation was made.
The director of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests said Monday
that the survey's numbers are low.
"Bishops have tried to hide this for years, so there is no reason to believe
all of a sudden they would change their ways," David Clohessy said. "The only
prudent thing to do is to assume this is not the entire truth. This is a survey,
not a report or investigation."
SNAP, founded in 1989, describes itself on its Web site as the nation's
largest, oldest and most active support group for people victimized by religious
authority figures.
The president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a written
statement calling the reports "a very sobering and important milestone."
"I have not seen the reports, and so I cannot comment on their substance,"
the statement from Bishop Wilton D. Gregory said. "But I want to reaffirm that
the bishops requested these studies so that we could understand as fully as
possible what caused this terrible occurrence in the life of our community to
make sure that it never happens again.
"My heart goes out to all who have suffered, and I assure them especially
that the bishops are committed to fully implementing the Dallas Charter and will
continue to work with the Office of Child and Youth Protection and the National
Review Board to reach out to victims and prevent such abuse from occurring in
the future," Gregory's statement said.
The Dallas Charter is a plan developed by the council in 2002 to protect
children from sex abuse by priests.
Bill Burleigh, a member of the conference's National Review Board, said he
would not comment until the survey is released. No clergy serve on the review
board.
According to the survey, 78 per cent of those abused were between 11 and 17,
16 per cent were 8 to 10, and nearly 6 per cent were 7 or younger.
The survey also said that several factors contributed to the problem,
including failure to grasp its gravity, overemphasis on the avoidance of
scandal, use of unqualified treatment centers, misguided willingness to forgive
and insufficient accountability.
More than 44,000 priests serve in the United States, according to the U.S.
Conference of Catholic Bishops.
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