Press TV
April 13, 2011
http://www.presstv.ir/usdetail/174667.html
 |
Allegations of sexual abuse involving the Roman Catholic clergy in the United States rose sharply last year to nearly 700 from around 400 in 2009, according to a church report Monday.
The vast majority of the allegations, 653, involved alleged abuse that occurred decades ago but whose "victims/survivors are just now finding the courage to report" them, the study said. Raw Story
HIGHLIGHTS
The number of victims was up sharply from 2009, when there were some 400 new allegations of clergy sex abuse in the United States. Raw Story
Payouts were also up, rising from $104 million in 2009 to around $124 million last year. Raw Story
Most of the allegations, 574, were against priests -- nearly half of whom are already deceased. Some 275 of the accused priests had already faced earlier accusations, the report said. Raw Story
More than half the victims were between the ages of 10 and 14 when the alleged abuse began; one fifth were aged between 15 and 17 years, while another fifth were younger than 10. Raw Story
FACTS & FIGURES
Last year, a U.S. priest was arrested and charged with trying to hire someone to murder a Texas teenager who accused him of sexual abuse, and a widespread clergy sex scandal also came to light in Europe last year, further damaging the Roman Catholic Church's reputation. Raw Story
In the United States, Roman Catholic archdioceses have collectively paid some $2 billion in settlements to victims since the priest sex scandals first erupted in Boston nearly a decade ago. NYT
In 2011, a Roman Catholic diocese in Delaware agreed to settle 142 claims of sexual abuse by priests for $77 million. Later that year, two Roman Catholic priests, a former priest and a Catholic school teacher were charged with raping young boys. NYT
Time and again the Roman Catholic Church has been forced to defend itself against charges that top officials tried to cover up cases of child sexual abuse by priests. NYT
Pope Benedict XVI himself has not been spared from these charges, especially for his actions as an archbishop and as the head of a Vatican watchdog group. NYT
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.