DA: Holding up release of report on Catholic Church sex abuse claims is attack on grand jury process

By Susan Shapiro
WGAL News 8
July 10, 2018

http://www.wgal.com/article/da-holding-up-release-of-report-on-catholic-church-sex-abuse-claims-is-attack-on-grand-jury-process/22107636

A district attorney said Pennsylvania's grand jury process is under assault as the state Supreme Court holds up the release of a report on claims of sex abuse in the Catholic Church.

Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli has joined the legal fight calling for the immediate release of the findings of a grand jury investigation at six dioceses, including Harrisburg.

Morganelli said the court's decision to first allow current and former priests who object to being named in the report to submit written arguments could undermine the entire grand jury process.

"I am concerned about the larger issues," said Morganelli. "Not necessarily the specifics of this report because I'm not privy to the facts of whether it was a preponderance of evidence. What I am concerned about is the overall attack on the whole grand jury statute."

Morganelli said he's worried this could lead to certain aspects of the grand jury process being ruled unconstitutional. He's asking the District Attorneys Association to support calls for the release of the report.

This comes a day after Lancaster County man who said he was sexually abused in the 1980s by a now-former priest in the Harrisburg Diocese called for the release of the report. Several news outlets and the state attorney general also want the report unsealed.