A man who had been sexually abused by a priest (right) wiped his tears with a handkerchief at a press conference at the Harrisburg State Capitol in the capital of Pennsylvania.
According to foreign media reports, the Pennsylvania State Grand Jury on Tuesday (14th) issued an investigation report on allegations of sexual abuse of children by Catholic clergy in the Catholic parish of the state, saying that more than 300 priests have sexually invaded more than 1,000 children in the past 70 years, and the church has a longer term. There are systematically disguising these evils and I believe that there are thousands of children victims. Most of the cases were unable to be prosecuted for a long time. Only two priests were prosecuted. The report recommended that the statute of limitations be amended so that victims of sexual assault can continue to pursue them.
Lost records, thousands of people suffer
The 23-person escort surveyed 6 of the 8 parishes in Pennsylvania. In two years, he consulted 500,000 parish internal documents and wrote nearly 900 pages of reports based on the testimonies of dozens of victims. It is the American Catholic Church. The most comprehensive report on sexual assault against children. It was pointed out that the identity of more than 1,000 victims could be confirmed, but since some records have been lost and some victims are afraid to stand up, it is estimated that the actual number may be as many as several thousand. The grand jury said that the victims suffered a lifelong mental injury, driving them to take drugs and alcohol and even commit suicide.
Sexual invasion of a 5 sister, only 18 months old
The report listed a number of cases of sexual assault. One girl was raped by a cleric in the hospital after undergoing a tonsillectomy in the hospital. Another child who had sipped the juice and woke up the next morning found rectal bleeding but could not Remember what happened. A priest forced a 9-year-old boy to give him oral sex, then let him use the holy water to gargle to "purify him"; another priest sexually invaded five sisters, one of whom was sexually assaulted from 18 months old At the age of 12, when the victim informed his parents in 1992 that the police searched the priest's home, he found that he had collected the underwear, urine, pubic hair and menstrual blood of the victim girl, but the church had ignored the accusation against the priest for years. After a priest gave a teenage girl a pregnancy, she assisted her in abortion and then continued to remain in office; a priest admitted that she had raped at least 15 boys, from young to only seven years old.
The church’s accomplice report reveals systematic disguise
Officials pointed out that since most of the priests who have been involved have passed away, or the case has been too long to go through the retrospective time limit, the report of the grand jury can only cause two priests to be prosecuted. One of them involved in a 7-year-old boy who ejaculated and pleaded guilty earlier this month; The other involved two boys, one of whom was infringed for eight years from the age of eight, and the priest was involved in sexual assault until 2010.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said that the top of the church systematically concealed each sexual assault case and allowed the prisoner to go unpunished. "The model is crime, denial and cover-up." The grand jury pointed out that even though some of the accused priests had been dismissed, the top of the church who had sheltered them remained and even promoted, including Donald Wuerl, who had long served as a bishop in the Pittsburgh Diocese and is now the Archbishop of Washington. When he was in Pittsburgh, he was involved in sheltering a priest who sexually harassed the boy. Afterwards, he accepted the resignation of the other person and received a pension.
The senior officials involved were still promoted. Only two priests were sued.
The bishop of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, recently published a list of 71 clerics involved. Lawrence Persico, the bishop of Erie, also published a list of 62 people involved. He is the only jury to the grand jury. The bishop who testified. Several Pennsylvania bishops issued a statement on Tuesday, promising to be more open, and said that measures have been taken to make the church safer in recent years, but many bishops have denied the church concealing sexual assault. More than 20 people mentioned in the grand jury report asked the court to hide their names in the report. Shapiro accused the people of still wanting to hide the problem, and he would try to publish a full version report without missing names.
The grand jury strongly recommends extending or canceling the statute of limitations in civil and criminal cases, allowing some older victims to file civil suits against sexual assaulters and churches. The Pennsylvania legislature has so far refused to lift the statute of limitations, making it impossible for child victims to file a civil lawsuit with the church after the age of 30. For many victims, it may take decades for them to have the courage to stand up and say that they have been sexually assaulted. , but the retrospective period has passed.