Erie Diocese Puts Number of Abuse Lawsuits at 31

By Ed Palattella
Erie.com
August 26, 2020

https://www.goerie.com/news/20200826/erie-diocese-puts-number-of-abuse-lawsuits-at-31

A total of 21 suits were filed in Erie County, others filed elsewhere, including 8 in Philadelphia County.

The Catholic Diocese of Erie’s potential legal problems over the clergy abuse crisis extend beyond Erie County.

Though the diocese is facing 21 lawsuits filed at the Erie County Courthouse, it must also deal with another 10 suits filed elsewhere in the 13-county diocese and statewide, including in Philadelphia.

The suits concern claims of a cover-up and fraud by the diocese, with the plaintiffs saying clergy within the diocese abused them as minors.

The filings are related to the two-year anniversary, on Aug. 14, 2018, of Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro’s release of the statewide grand jury report on the sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church.