Jury Ending Probe of Catholic Dioceses

By Tim Darragh
Morning Call
April 4, 2018

http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/jury-ending-probe-of-catholic-dioceses-1.2321837

A grand jury that has been hearing testimony about sexual abuse by priests in six Catholic dioceses in Pennsylvania, including Scranton, will soon conclude its work and issue a report in the spring, according to two sources.

The grand jury, which was impaneled in 2016, was extended from late 2017 until the end of this month, said state Rep. Mark Rozzi, a Berks County Democrat, who testified before the panel. He said he hopes a report will be forthcoming in May or June.

Rozzi did not disclose the source of his information about the grand jury, which operates in secret. A second source also told The Morning Call the grand jury was reaching the end of its term. Under state code, a grand jury has a term of 18 months that can be extended to 24 months. The source said the grand jury began hearing testimony soon after an earlier grand jury issued a report in March 2016 outlining decades of sexual abuse by priests that went unpunished in the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese.

Rozzi, a Catholic who says he was molested by an Allentown Diocese priest as a boy, said victims have reached out to him because he has been working to extend the statute of limitations for abuse victims. At least 20 to 30 people from the Allentown Diocese, he said, told him they had been abused by a priest.

“They were sexually abused within the diocese,” he said.

Spokesman Matt Kerr said the Allentown Diocese is awaiting the release of the grand jury’s findings. “We were subpoenaed in September 2016 and turned over all the records we were asked for,” he said.

Rozzi told The Morning Call he testified before the grand jury in summer 2016. Besides Allentown, the grand jury is looking into alleged abuse by priests in the dioceses of Pittsburgh, Greensburg, Erie, Harrisburg and Scranton.

The state’s largest diocese, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, has been the subject of two grand jury investigations, which uncovered sexual abuse allegations against hundreds of priests. Three priests and a teacher were charged as well as the archdiocese’s secretary of clergy, whose case was tossed; he will be retried.

Former Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane launched the statewide probe after the Altoona-Johnstown investigation found that hundreds of children were abused over five decades by at least 50 priests.

Based on that grand jury report, the attorney general’s office charged three Franciscan friars with child endangerment and criminal conspiracy. Two of the friars are heading to trial in May, with a pretrial conference scheduled for today, according to Blair County Court records. Charges against the third were dismissed after they ran up against the statute of limitations.

In a break from the past, diocesan officials in Erie last month said they would name priests who had been credibly accused of sexual abuse.

“We are still in the process of confirming the identities of the accused, which will be published in the next few weeks,” said Anne-Marie Welsh, the diocesan director of communications. “At that time, we expect to have a news conference during which we will provide additional information.”

Erie Bishop Lawrence Persico announced the diocese’s plan after the nearby Buffalo Diocese last month released the names of priests who were removed from ministry, retired, or left the ministry after being accused of sexual assault. According to The Buffalo News, 42 priests had been accused of sexual abuse, including 27 who had not previously been linked publicly to abuse charges.

Diocesan officials in Greensburg in 2016 were asked not to discuss information presented to the grand jury, said spokesman Jerry Zufelt. But the diocese may change course and follow Erie’s lead, he said.

“In light of the Diocese of Erie’s decision to publish names of accused priests, we are going to contact the attorney general and see if the attorney general now would agree to publication,” Zufelt said.

The other dioceses did not say whether they would identify the accused by name. A spokesman for the Pittsburgh Diocese did not return a request for comment.

Rozzi said he is waiting to see the grand jury’s findings before renewing a legislative push to give victims who had been abused years or decades ago the opportunity to sue for damages. Many victims have continued to feel the wounds of having been sexually abused and not having their day in court, he said.

“They wanted to be part of the process,” Rozzi said. “Just being able to get in front of the grand jury was a victory for them.”

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