UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter
Brian Roewe | May. 20, 2013
Ten years after the Dallas Charter, the U.S. Catholic church has made progress in the protection of children from clergy sexual abuse, but high-profile cases from coast to coast in the past year underscore the need for continued vigilance.
Those conclusions came as part of the annual compliance audit of the nation’s dioceses conducted by an independent contractor, a requirement established as part of the “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People,” which the U.S. bishops adopted at their 2002 meeting in Dallas.
“From my standpoint, I think children are safer,” Al Notzon III, chairman of the National Review Board, told NCR. “I think that we have institutionalized the whole idea of safe environment training, victim assistance. And that’s, to me, critical.”
Released in early May, the 2012 “Report on the Implementation of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People” found that the past year represented the lowest levels of new allegations by minors of priest sex abuse (397) since data collection began in 2004. It also saw new lows reached in the number of victims who came forward (390), and the number of offenders (313). Each figure denotes less than half those reported in 2004, and 20 percent decreases from 2011.
In 2012 alone, 34 minors brought forth allegations, six of which were deemed credible accusations, 12 determined unfounded and 15 remaining under investigation at the time of the audit. During the same period, 887 adults who claimed abuse during their childhood came forward with allegations for the first time.
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