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  Grand Jury Clears Dallas Diocese

The Associated Press, carried in Fort Worth Star-Telegram [Dallas TX]
June 28, 2005

DALLAS - A grand jury impaneled by the Dallas County District Attorney's Office said Monday it found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing in the way the Roman Catholic Diocese of Dallas handled reported cases of sexual abuse.

The grand jury was impaneled to help determine if Catholic Bishop Charles Grahmann and his staff had received allegations of abuse by clergy members that weren't reported to law enforcement.

The DA's office declined to discuss further details.

A telephone message left with the diocese wasn't immediately returned to The Associated Press, but Grahmann said in a story posted on the diocesan newspaper's Web site that he was pleased the investigation was over and that it confirmed the diocese's position that there was no wrongdoing.

Prosecutors launched the investigation in February after they became suspicious of a written claim by the diocese in 2002 that said nobody in the ministry had violated any state laws relating to minors.

That same month, a pastor in Rockwall who had been accused in the early 1990s of sexually harassing boys at jobs in Dallas and Plano resigned. Those who accused the pastor of the harassment said they never saw any indication that the diocese investigated the allegations or reported them to authorities.