UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter
Catholic News Service | May. 10, 2013
WASHINGTON The annual audit of diocesan compliance with the U.S. Catholic church’s “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People” found a drop in the number of allegations, number of victims and number of offenders reported in 2012.
Georgetown University-based Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, which gathered data for the report, found “the fewest allegations and victims reported since the data collection for the annual reports began in 2004.”
Most allegations reported last year were from the 1970s and 1980s with many of the alleged offenders already deceased or removed from active ministry.
StoneBridge Business Partners, which conducts the audits, said law enforcement found six credible cases among 34 allegations of abuse of minors in 2012. The credibility of 15 of the allegations was still under investigation. Law enforcement officials found 12 allegations to be unfounded or unable to be proven, and one was a boundary violation.
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