The Pennsylvania grand jury report on child sexual abuse by Catholic priests in six dioceses in the state is now available to the public.
The state Attorney General Josh Shapiro released the grand jury report on Tuesday.
“Pennsylvanians can finally learn the extent of sexual abuse in these dioceses,” Shapiro said. “For the first time, we can all begin to understand the systematic cover-up by church leaders that followed. The abuse scarred every diocese. The cover-up was sophisticated. The church protected the institution at all costs.”
In the 884-page report, the members of the investigating grand jury stated that they uncovered a widespread child sexual abuse and systemic cover-up by the leaders of the Catholic Church across Pennsylvania.
For two years, the grand jury investigated allegations of child sexual abuse in the dioceses of Allentown, Erie, Harrisburg, Greensburg, Pittsburgh and Scranton. These dioceses cover 54 of the 67 counties of Pennsylvania.
The grand jury started the report by saying, “We, the members of this grand jury, need you to hear this. We know some of you have heard some of it before. There have been some other reports about child sexual abuse within the Catholic Church. But never on this scale. For many of us, those earlier stories happened someplace else, some place away. Now we know the truth: it happened everywhere.”
Predator Priests Sexually Abused over a Thousand Children
In the report, the grand jury identified 301 predator priests who sexually abused children during their ministry. They found that were more than 1,000 identifiable child victims based on the records of the Catholic Church.
