BALTIMORE (MD)
Wall Street Journal [New York NY]
April 5, 2023
By Scott Calvert and Jon Kamp
Report alleges 156 people, including priests, abused more than 600 children
Scores of priests and other people affiliated with the Archdiocese of Baltimore sexually abused hundreds of children over more than 60 years, and church officials often protected the perpetrators while keeping their crimes a secret, Maryland’s attorney general said in a new report.
Wednesday’s report from Attorney General Anthony Brown alleges that 156 people—including priests and archdiocese personnel—abused more than 600 youths, causing lasting psychological trauma for survivors.
The release of the long-awaited 456-page report comes shortly after state lawmakers passed new legislation to allow civil lawsuits alleging long-ago child sex abuse—steps that in other states have led Catholic organizations to seek bankruptcy protection.
Maryland’s findings mark the latest effort by officials nationwide to document clerical sexual abuse and systematic efforts by church leaders to hide crimes. In Pennsylvania, a 2018 grand-jury report alleged that Catholic Church officials there covered up the molestation of more than 1,000 children by more than 300 priests over 70 years.
“The incontrovertible history uncovered by this investigation is one of pervasive, pernicious and persistent abuse by priests and other archdiocese personnel,” said Mr. Brown, a Democrat. His predecessor, Brian Frosh, launched the state’s investigation several years ago.
The archdiocese didn’t oppose the release of the partially redacted state report, which Archbishop William Lori has said would be a painful reminder of a time when the church didn’t protect children. He also said the archdiocese has changed. Cases in the attorney general’s report covered alleged abuse stretching from the 1940s through 2002.
“The report details a reprehensible time in the history of this Archdiocese, a time that will not be covered up, ignored or forgotten,” the archbishop said Wednesday, following the report’s release.
Multiple abusive priests were assigned to some congregations and schools in the archdiocese, which covers Baltimore and nine Maryland counties, the report found. One parish had 11 sexually abusive priests over 40 years, it said, and mistreatment was so rampant that some victims flagged molestation to priests who were themselves abusers.
The archdiocese didn’t report to authorities many of the allegations or duly investigate claims, while failing to remove abusers or limit their access to children, according to the report.
“Church documents reveal with disturbing clarity that the Archdiocese was more concerned with avoiding scandal and negative publicity than it was with protecting children,” the report said.
The victimized youth included boys and girls. One woman said she was repeatedly abused in the 1980s while she was in preschool, the report said.
Most of the alleged abusers and those who allegedly concealed their wrongdoing are now dead and no longer subject to prosecution, the attorney general said. He also said the statute of limitations restrains his ability to prosecute cases stemming from the report—one person was indicted last year—but that his office could act if new evidence or information comes to light. Currently, child sex abuse victims in Maryland have until their 38th birthday to file a civil suit seeking damages.
Lawmakers in the Democratic-controlled Maryland legislature passed legislation, sending it to Democratic Gov. Wes Moore on Wednesday, that would eliminate the civil statute of limitations for sexual abuse of minors and open the door for lawsuits alleging past abuse that are presently barred by time limits. The legislation would cap noneconomic damages for private institutions at $1.5 million per claim.
Mr. Moore backs the legislation, according to his office.
Maryland would join two dozen states that have passed similar laws in the past two decades enabling victims to bring decades-old civil claims of child sexual abuse otherwise time-barred under a prior statute of limitations, according to Child USA, a nonprofit that advocates for such laws.
An estimated 11,800 lawsuits have been filed in Catholic clergy abuse cases nationwide, according to Child USA. In addition, thousands of claims have been paid out as part of mediation programs in states such as New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, the group said.
Child-sex-abuse claims and the easing of statute of limitation laws have driven bankruptcy filings by Catholic dioceses around the country, according to Penn State Law Professor Marie Reilly. More than 30 U.S. Catholic organizations have sought bankruptcy protection, most recently the Diocese of Albany, N.Y., on March 15.
Maryland’s investigation of clerical sexual abuse is the latest in a long line of examinations conducted since 2002 by attorneys general and grand juries around the U.S., according to the watchdog website Bishop Accountability.
Write to Scott Calvert at scott.calvert@wsj.com and Jon Kamp at Jon.Kamp@wsj.com