LEXINGTON (KY)
Lexington Herald
Oct. 2, 2019
By Linda Blackford
Last December, Bishop John Stowe, the head of the Lexington Catholic diocese, announced that two lawyers would review the personnel files of every priest who’s worked here since the 50-county diocese was formed in 1988 and every sexual abuse claim ever made. The investigation would determine if sexual abuse complaints had been handled properly or if anything had been missed. That included any new complaints.
The lawyers, Allison Connelly and Andrew Sparks, have been going through thousands of pages of files, ranging from past complaints to the backgrounds of current priests. They’ve also been advertising in parish newsletters to let people know they are ready to take new complaints about the scourge of abuse that has roiled the Catholic Church for nearly the past two decades.
But they haven’t heard about any new complaints, and are worried that word is not getting out beyond the Church that a new investigation is ongoing. Many sexual abuse survivors left the church after being ignored for so many years and won’t see parish newsletters, Connelly said.
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