Six Catholic Dioceses under Investigation for Possible Child Sexual Abuse: the Story So Far
By Ivey DeJesus
Six dioceses under investigation: The story so far As early as May, a state grand jury is expected to release the findings of its investigation into allegations of clergy sex abuse across six Catholic dioceses in Pennsylvania. Since 2016, when the grand jury was empaneled, investigators have been hearing testimony and examining documents in connection to allegations that church officials, in some cases for decades, failed to protect children from predator priests. Here is a primer of this developing story so far: The grand jury has been investigating allegations of sexual abuse by priests in the Catholic dioceses of Harrisburg, Allentown, Pittsburgh, Greensburg, Erie and Scranton. It is not clear how many victims or church officials have been subpoenaed by the panel. In a written statement to PennLive, Pennsylvania Catholic Conference spokesperson Amy Hill said: "The Catholic Church has embraced the need to make this right for survivors. Pennsylvania's dioceses have fully cooperated with the grand jury's investigation. Every diocese in Pennsylvania has helped survivors and their families pay for counselors and treatment programs of their choice, and will continue to do so. We pray the victims and their families can recover as they continue through a difficult healing process." Here's what we know about the dioceses being investigated: Diocese of Harrisburg: Serves more than a quarter-of-a-million parishioners and encompasses 15 counties, including Adams, Columbia, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Juniata, Lancaster, Lebanon, Mifflin, Montour, Northumberland, Perry, Snyder, Union and York. The diocese has one cathedral - St. Patrick - and two basilicas, Sacred Heart Basilica, Conewago (the oldest stone church in use in the United States) and the Basilica of Saints Cyril and Methodius in Danville. Over the years, at least 15 priests who had at one time served in the Harrisburg Diocese have been identified in allegations of child sex abuse - several of which were deemed credible.
Will Harrisburg release names? Officials with the Harrisburg Diocese on Thursday told PennLive that they may revisit an earlier plan to release a list of priests who have been accused of child sex abuse. The diocese in 2016 tabled such a plan after the state attorney general's office advised the diocese not to release the list. Officials declined to say how many priests were on the list.
The Diocese of Allentown encompasses Berks, Carbon, Lehigh, Northampton, and Schuylkill counties and serves more than a quarter-of-a-million Catholics. Diocesan spokesman Matt Kerr this week told The Morning Call in Allentown that church officials in the diocese were subpoenaed in September 2016. Officials turned over to investigators all the records requested, he said. The diocese has over the years faced multiple accusations against priests with lawsuits alleging that the diocese systematically covered up decades of sexual abuse by priests through secret files, code words and transfers, according to BishopAccountability. Past lawsuits have claimed the diocese promoted accused priests, supported them and transferred them without revealing past allegations.
Archdiocese of Philadelphia The themes that came out of Boston and other large archdioceses across the U.S., including Los Angeles, reverberated in two stunning grand jury investigations into clergy sex abuse in Pennsylvania - that out of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese. Investigators in Philadelphia in 2011 found widespread clergy sexual abuse and concealment by church officials. As a result, in addition to the removal of a number of priests deemed unsuitable for the priesthood, the Philadelphia report resulted in the conviction and sentencing of Monsignor William Lynn, the highest-ranking U.S. Catholic Church official convicted in a child sex abuse scandal. He served nearly three years of a three- to six-year sentence when the Pennsylvania Supreme Court tossed his conviction over trial errors. He's currently a free man. A judge in March 2017 allowed in a ruling for prosecutors to retry Lynn in connection with his handling of sex abuse complaints involving children and priests. Because of an unresolved defense defense appeal, that retrial for Lynn wasn't expected to take place until this year. Lynn is pictured here in 2012 before a scheduled verdict reading in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Costly scandal A 2014 study commissioned by the Catholic Church found that more than 4,000 U.S. priests had faced sexual abuse allegations in the last 50 years. The cases involved more than 10,000 children - mostly boys. Between 2004 and 2013, the Catholic Church spent more than $2 billion in a settlements, therapy for victims, support for offenders and attorneys' fees with regards to clergy sexual abuse.
Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown investigation In March 2016, a report from a grand jury investigation into allegations of sexual abuse of children in the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown found widespread abuse involving at least 50 priests or religious leaders. The findings revealed a history of diocesan superiors concealing the child abuse as part of an effort to protect the church's image. The 147-page report found the systemic abuse of thousands of children over decades by priests and church leaders in the diocese. It detailed - at times graphically -- accounts of sexual abuse of children at the hands of priests and church leaders, including the late Monsignor Francis B. McCaa, whom the report noted, was "a monster" who groped and fondled the genitals of at least 15 boys, many of them altar boys. A poster from the 37th Statewide Investigative Grand Jury shows a timeline of child sexual abuse by over 50 priests in the Altoona-Johnstown diocese over the past 40 years. Mark Pynes | mpynes@pennlive.com Mark1.jpg PAHAP Mark Pynes | mpynes@pennlive.com Six months after the release of the findings in the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese, state investigators launched their latest probe into the six counties currently under investigation.
Diocese of Pittsburgh encompasses Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Greene, Lawrence and Washington counties. Victims of abuse have for years alleged widespread clergy sex abuse across the diocese and deep cover-up by church officials. In 2004, more than two dozen complaints were filed against the diocese, alleging that it covered up child sexual abuse accusations against five priests. The statute of limitations had expired on all the cases. Attorneys for the victims sued the diocese and not the priests, naming then-Bishop Donald Wuerl and the late Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua. Like other dioceses under investigation, the state attorney general's office subpoenaed documents relating to sexual abuse by priests from the diocese in September of 2016. According to media reports, investigators requested files dating back to 1947.
Diocese of Greensburg: encompasses Armstrong, Fayette, Indiana, and Westmoreland counties. The diocese has been named in a number of lawsuits alleging clergy sex abuse of children over the years. In 2005 lawsuit filed in Westmoreland County court, a 52-year-old man accused the late Rev. Francis Lesniak of abusing him in the mid-1960s, when the man was a 12- or 13-year-old boy. According to the lawsuit, the abuse happened when Lesniak worked at the St. Stanislaus Church in Calmut. The boy was a parishioner. Lesniak died in February 1991. The lawsuit named the diocese and retired Bishop Anthony Bosco as defendants.
Diocese of Scranton: encompasses Bradford, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Lycoming, Monroe, Pike, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Tioga, Wayne and Wyoming counties. More than 25 priests from the diocese have been accused of child sexual abuse allegations since 1950, according to The Pocono Record. In April, the diocese removed the Rev. Martin M. Boylan as pastor of St. Patrick's Parish in West Scranton and episcopal vicar for the Northern Pastoral Region, after an allegation of sexual misconduct with a minor surfaced. The alleged abuse happened in Wayne County, according to the media outlet.
Diocese of Erie: encompasses Cameron, Clarion, Clearfield, Crawford, Elk, Erie, Forest, Jefferson, McKean, Mercer, Potter, Venango, and Warren counties. In late March, Erie Bishop Lawrence Persico announced the diocese would release the names of priests who had been removed from ministry, retired, or left the ministry after being accused of sexual assault. The announcement came two days after neighboring Buffalo Diocese released the names of priests who faced similar accusations. According to a story on goerie.com, the Erie Diocese previously had never disclosed the names of priests accused of or dismissed in the past over allegations of sexual abuse. The diocese in 2004 released information that showed 20 priests were credibly accused of sexually abusing 38 minors in the diocese from 1950 to 2002.
Worldwide scandal The ongoing grand jury investigation is the latest chapter of a clergy sex abuse scandal that has embattled the 1.2 billion strong Roman Catholic Church for decades. In 2002, The Boston Globe uncovered widespread sexual abuse of children by scores of priests in Boston and the systemic cover-up by church officials. That investigation resulted in hundreds of priests, deacons, religious order clerics, nuns and other church officials been accused of child sex abuse. Scores of individuals tied to the church faced criminal charges, lawsuits and convictions. The archdiocese in 2011 published a list of accused clergy, naming a total of 159 clerics. The Globe later revealed that the archdiocese list excluded the names of 70 religious order clerics who had been accused.
Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown investigation Brian Gergely (right) was sexually abused by his priest for years. Gergely, 46, took his own life on Friday, July 1, 2016. He is pictured here with Kevin Hoover in 2003 in the wake of a lawsuit they filed against the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese. (Associated Press)
Grand jury investigation Sources close to the investigation suggest that investigators have been overwhelmed by the sheer number of victims who have come forth and testified and the volume of information and documents. Carolyn Simpson, a spokesperson for the state Office of Attorney General, however, cautioned about any characterization of the investigation. "Protecting the secrecy of Statewide Investigating Grand Juries is paramount," Simpson said in a written statement to PennLive. "Only those individuals directly involved with the Grand Jury are aware of its inner workings, and any speculation on current or former investigations from people outside of that small population should be dismissed."
The human toll of abuse Victims of clergy sex abuse have long demanded reform to the state's statute of limitations, which as currently written, bar the majority of adults who were abused decades ago as children from legal recourse to bring predators or church officials to justice. Many victims face lingering suffering from emotional pain, and many turn to substance abuse and even suicide. Lawmakers have tried unsuccessfully for years to reform state law.
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