PENNSYLVANIA
WPSU
By MARY WILSON
A statewide grand jury has found that the Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown concealed the sexual abuse of hundreds of children at the hands of priests and religious leaders for decades, giving known child molesters the chance to prey on additional victims.
In a presentment released by the state attorney general’s office Tuesday, the grand jury indicated two former bishops, the late James Hogan and retired bishop Joseph Adamec, as being “at the forefront” of a cover-up of abuse allegations. However, the grand jury says the crimes discovered cannot be prosecuted due to a combination of factors: the alleged abusers have died, the statute of limitations for the sexual abuse crimes has expired, and victims are unable to testify.
The grand jury is calling for state lawmakers to scrub the statute of limitations on child sex abuse offenses and to suspend the statute of limitations for civil sexual abuse claims.
The Altoona-Johnstown diocese did not immediately have a comment in response to the grand jury’s findings.
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