BishopAccountability.org

Iowa is one of many states looking to Pennsylvania for answers on clergy sex abuse

By Shelby Fleig
Des Moines Register
December 17, 2018

https://bit.ly/2A11bZ2

A parishioner watches a video message delivered by Bishop of Scranton Joseph Bambera during the morning Mass at Our Lady of the Eucharist in Pittston, Pa., on Sunday, Aug, 20 2018. Bambera addressed the current charges of child abuse by clergy members in the Scranton Diocese and across the state.
Photo by Dave Scherbenco

In this Aug. 14, 2018, file photo, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro speaks about a grand jury’s report on clergy abuse in the Roman Catholic Church during a news conference at the Capitol in Harrisburg, Pa. The U.S. Justice Department opened their own investigation and have served subpoenas on dioceses across the state, according to multiple sources who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The subpoenas follow the state grand jury report.
Photo by Matt Rourke

This August 2010 photo provided by Reuben Ortiz shows retired Catholic priest Jerome Coyle in Albuquerque, N.M. An Associated Press investigation shows that the diocese based in Sioux City, Iowa, quietly transferred Coyle to New Mexico for treatment after he acknowledged in 1986 that he had sexually abused roughly 50 Iowa boys over a 20-year period.
Photo by Reuben Ortiz

Up to 45 states, including Iowa, have sought assistance from Pennsylvania authorities regarding alleged misconduct by Catholic priests in the months since a bombshell grand jury report was made public.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, in an interview with USA TODAY, said there's been a surge of inquiries since the August report found that at least 300 priests are accused of abusing more than 1,000 children since the 1940s.

The result of a two-year grand jury investigation, the report is one of the most comprehensive looks into such abuse by the Catholic church in history.

Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller "considers this an important issue, and we want to learn from Pennsylvania and other states," said Lynn Hicks, the attorney general’s communications director.

The Iowa attorney general's office has participated in "several" briefings, hosted by Shapiro, to ask questions regarding the investigation in that state, Hicks said in an email.

He said he was unsure whether other Iowa law enforcement agencies have contacted Pennsylvania authorities.

Shapiro ordered the grand jury investigation that led to the historic report, which also accuses the church of a “systematic cover-up’’ by moving abusive priests from one parish to another.

More than a dozen attorneys general have since publicly acknowledged that they have launched separate clergy abuse inquiries. The U.S. Justice Department is also conducting a wide-ranging review, disclosed in October by church officials who said they received demand for documents.

But no such state investigation will be ordered in Iowa. Miller does not have the authority, unlike his Pennsylvania counterpart, to launch a statewide investigative grand jury, Hicks said in August. 

“We don’t have the same authority,” Hicks said. “We are not a criminal investigative agency; we prosecute cases that are referred to us by county attorneys.”

Catholic dioceses in Iowa have paid millions to settle sex abuse cases in the past two decades, the largest settlements happening over the course of years in Davenport and Dubuque.

In 2004, the Davenport diocese paid $9 million to settle 37 claims against eastern Iowa priests. After filing for bankruptcy in 2006, the Davenport diocese in 2007 paid another $37 million to 156 more victims.

In 2006, the Archdiocese of Dubuque paid $5 million to settle 20 claims against nine priests. The next year, the Archdiocese paid an additional $2.6 million to settle more claims. Then in 2013, the Archdiocese paid another $5.2 million to settle 26 claims of sex abuse.

More recently, the Diocese of Sioux City said it will create and publish a list of credibly accused priests after an investigation by the Associated Press uncovered the church's three-decade cover-up of abuse by the Rev. Jerome Coyle.




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