PENNSYLVANIA
Sharon Herald
By DAVE SUTOR | CNHI News Service
ALTOONA – At least 50 priests and religious leaders from the Altoona-Johnstown Roman Catholic Diocese in western Pennsylvania sexually abused hundreds of children since the 1950s, a state grand jury report has concluded.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane released the 147-page report Tuesday at a news conference. She described the findings as “heinous crimes” that were “absolutely unconscionable.”
The grand jury investigated sexual abuse in the diocese for two years in response to complaints. It said the inquiry concluded the findings were “both staggering and sobering,” disclosing a “dark and disturbing history.”
The diocese covers eight counties and 89 parishes. They serve more than 94,000 Catholics in the region.
The Pennsylvania grand jury report comes 12 years after the Boston Globe disclosed widespread abuse by pedophile priests in the Boston Roman Catholic Archdiocese. The scandal, which spread to many Catholic parishes in the U.S. and elsewhere, was portrayed in the recent popular movie “Spotlight,” a winner on Sunday of Academy Awards for best picture and best original screenplay.
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