The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) reportedly launched an investigation into the allegations of child sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests in Pennsylvania.
On Thursday, the Associated Press (AP) reported that prosecutors subpoenaed Catholic dioceses across Pennsylvania. They demanded that church leaders submit confidential documents and testimony stored in “secret archives.”
The media organization obtained information from two people familiar with the investigation but were not authorized to discuss it publicly.
According to the sources, U.S. Attorney William McSwain of Pennsylvania issued the subpoenas last week. He wanted to find out whether church leaders and others committed any federal crime.
Professor Marci Hamilton, CEO of Child USA, a non-profit think tank focused on preventing child abuse, told AP, “It’s groundbreaking if we’re going to see one of the U.S. attorneys pursuing the Catholic cases. The federal government has so far been utterly silent on the Catholic cases.”
Grand Jury Report prompts investigations into clergy sexual abuse
The DOJ’s investigation comes two months after the release of a grand jury report on child sexual abuse by Catholic priests in six dioceses in the state. The report identified 301 predator priests who sexually abused over a thousand children over the past seven decades.
