Allentown Diocese reports new claims of child sex abuse by priests

By Tim Darragh
Morning Call
August 24, 2018

http://www.mcall.com/news/breaking/mc-nws-allentown-diocese-more-survivors-20180824-story.html

The Diocese of Allentown is reporting that 14 people claiming to have been sexually abused by a priest have come forward since the release of a grand jury report investigating sexual abuse in six dioceses.

Fourteen people claiming to have been sexually abused by priests and not previously reporting it have contacted the Allentown Diocese since the Aug. 14 release of a grand jury report investigating six Pennsylvania dioceses, a spokesman said Friday.

The spokesman, Matt Kerr, said none of the priests identified by the accusers is in ministry.

The increase in accusers comes as calls to a state hotline specifically set up by Attorney General Josh Shapiro’s office to field calls about clergy sex abuse continue to surge. As of Friday, 656 people had contacted the hotline, said Shapiro’s spokesman, Joe Grace. At the beginning of the week, the hotline had received 400 calls.The diocese is encouraging anyone who knows of or suspects child abuse to report it to the State ChildLine at 800-932-0313, the State Attorney General’s hotline at 888-538-8541 or to local law enforcement.

The grand jury report, which named 301 priests as known or alleged sexual abusers of children, did not have a firm tally of victims.

“Over 1,000 child victims were identifiable, from the church’s own records,” the report said. “We believe that the real number — of children whose records were lost, or who were afraid ever to come forward — is in the thousands.”

The grand jury report and a list compiled separately by the Allentown Diocese name 52 priests, many of them deceased, as known or alleged child sex abusers in the diocese, which covers Berks, Carbon, Lehigh, Northampton and Schuylkill counties.

It’s not known if any of the new contacts will result in criminal prosecutions. It also is unknown if the allegations are about priests or former priests who had not been previously named by the grand jury or the diocese.

Not included in the newest group of accusations are those against the Rev. Kevin Lonergan, who was charged with indecent assault Tuesday. Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin said Lonergan, 30, of Pottsville, sent nude images of himself online to a 17-year-old girl he met at St. Francis of Assisi Church in Allentown. Lonergan also allegedly grabbed the girl’s buttocks, a criminal complaint says.

The accusations against Lonergan were lodged in June, after the grand jury wrapped up its investigation.

Other dioceses are hearing new accusations as well. The Pittsburgh Diocese this week said it fielded about 50 calls from people claiming to have been molested by priests but who had previously not come forward.

Prosecutors also said this week they would investigate sex abuse files in the Archdiocese of St. Louis, Mo., and in dioceses in Illinois. In addition, Seton Hall University in South Orange, N.J., announced it is investigating potential sexual abuse at two seminaries it hosts following misconduct allegations against ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, former head of the Washington Archidiocese, and other priests.

Pope Francis, during a visit to Ireland this weekend, said he plans to meet with several people who were sexually assaulted by priests as children.