ST. LOUIS (MO)
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests
December 19, 2018
Today, Illinois’ attorney general has released a preliminary report into clergy sex abuse and cover-ups in Illinois. The details within the report will no doubt be shocking to the public, but sadly, sound all too familiar to us.
According to AG Lisa Madigan’s report, dioceses in Illinois have, for decades, kept hundreds of names of abusive priests secret . Despite telling the public that there have been, in total, 185 priests “credibly” accused of abuse, the AG’s office concluded that there are many as 690. Making matters worse, when informed of allegations of abuse, the Illinois Dioceses have at best done token investigations and at worst outright ignored the accusations.
Ignoring allegations would be awful even if it only happened once, but AG Madigan’s report shows that Illinois Dioceses have ignored or minimized nearly ¾ of all allegations reported. And, when they do investigate, the AG makes the damning claim that “they frequently found reasons not to deem an allegation ‘credible.’”
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