PHILADELPHIA (PA)
The Inquirer
August 2, 2018
By Maria Panaritis
http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/maria-panaritis/pennsylvania-grand-jury-report-clergy-abuse-catholic-church-attorney-general-josh-shapiro-maria-panaritis-20180801.html
Photo caption: The Reverend John T. Sweeney, center, pleaded guilty Tuesday in Westmoreland County to sexually abusing a fourth grader. The state attorney general is days away from releasing an investigative report about 300 alleged Catholic clergy abusers just like him across Pennsylvania. And yet, only a few have ever faced criminal charges through the years in this state.
Josh Shapiro is delivering a few lessons this week on the power of the people vs. the power of people with deep pockets.
They’re more like jabs, and they are coming from Pennsylvania’s attorney general ahead of the release of a criminal investigative report, days away, that will disclose clergy abuse by more than 300 predator priests at six of Pennsylvania’s eight Catholic dioceses.
Shapiro’s office over the last year has taken a beating behind closed doors from church-affiliated lawyers who have sought to kill or neuter the report. Shapiro seems willing now, as the finish line approaches, to slap back at them.
It’s about time.
It began on Tuesday, when Shapiro held a news conference to announce a conviction against creep-in-a-collar John T. Sweeney. The priest from Westmoreland County pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a 10-year-old boy who, now in his 30s, serves in the U.S. Coast Guard.
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