HARRISBURG (PA)
Trib Live
September 27, 2018
By Deb Erdley
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro had no idea the flood gate he was opening last month, when he went public with a grand jury report on Catholic clergy sexual abuse.
The clergy sexual abuse hotline in the attorney general’s office has been ringing day and night for six weeks, tallying 1,181 new calls as of Thursday, he said.
“As a result of the heroism of the survivors (who testified before the grand jury), more and more survivors are finding voices,” Shapiro said.
He declined to discuss specifics about the deluge of new complaints.
“There has been a lot of useful information, helpful information and information we are working through right now,” he said. “And there has been information about matters we were not aware of.”
Shapiro said he also has fielded calls from attorneys general in 40 other states seeking to launch their own investigations. Within 10 days of the release of the Pennsylvania report, attorneys general in Missouri and Illinois launched investigations. Last week, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette did the same.
Likewise, the U.S. Justice Department has reached out to Pennsylvania’s top prosecutor.
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