UNITED STATES
Movie Pilot
by Karly Rayner, July 12th, 2016
As anyone who has watched the Oscar-winning movie will know, Spotlight is based on the chilling true story of the systematic cover-up of child sexual abuse within the Catholic church, but just how did the original events really unfold?
Below is a comprehensive account of just what was going on in the real Spotlight office back in 2001, the reporters who valiantly battled the church, and the victims who bravely fought for justice.
Below is a brief breakdown of the real-life events that inspired (and are often depicted in) the movie and the chain of occurrences that caused the Spotlight reporters to pursue the corrupt Catholic church with such dogged determination.
* Reporter Eileen McNamara wrote a column about lawsuits pertaining to a priest who was accused of sexually abusing children within the Boston Diocese. New editor Marty Baron noticed the story and insisted on digging deeper after it was discovered that the judge had sealed the court records to prevent the personnel records of the priest from going public.
* A suspicious Baron became determined to uncover exactly what was written in the hidden documents that the church was hell-bent on hiding.
* Lawyers at The Globe office give the Spotlight team a 50:50 chance of succeeding in their efforts to uncover pedophile priest John Geoghan’s records and they decide it is the right thing to do to proceed with the case.
* Victim Phil Saviano sends The Globe his account of the Catholic church sweeping sexual abuse by the clergy under the rug. He previously sent the information to them five years earlier, but at the time The Globe chose not to pursue the case.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.