Home>News Center>World
             
     

    4,450 US priests accused of child sex abuse
    (Agencies)
    Updated: 2004-02-17 10:14

    Children accused more than 4,000 priests of sexual abuse between 1950 and 2002, according to a draft survey commissioned by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

    The survey, to be released February 27, found that children made more than 11,000 allegations of sexual abuse by priests. The 4,450 accused priests represent about 4 per cent of the 110,000 priests who served during the 52 years covered by the study, CNN reported.

    The report is based on a nationwide survey of church records, and was compiled by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice for the conference. The bishops' conference commissioned the survey to get a better understanding of the scope of the crisis.

    CNN reviewed a draft copy of the survey. Officials said it may be slightly changed before its release.

    John Geoghan, a defrocked Roman Catholic priest and convicted child molester, died on August 23, 2003 after he was assaulted in prison. [AP]
    More than half of the accused priests had only one allegation against them. Nearly 25 per cent, or 1,112 priests, had two or three allegations, and almost 13 per cent, or 578 priests, had four to nine allegations, according to the draft report. Nearly 3 per cent, or 133 of the priests, had 10 or more allegations.

    The report said that 6,700 of the 11,000 allegations were investigated and substantiated, and another 1,000 were unsubstantiated. The remaining 3,300 were not investigated because the priests involved had died by the time the allegation was made.

    The director of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests said Monday that the survey's numbers are low.

    "Bishops have tried to hide this for years, so there is no reason to believe all of a sudden they would change their ways," David Clohessy said. "The only prudent thing to do is to assume this is not the entire truth. This is a survey, not a report or investigation."

    SNAP, founded in 1989, describes itself on its Web site as the nation's largest, oldest and most active support group for people victimized by religious authority figures.

    The president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a written statement calling the reports "a very sobering and important milestone."

    "I have not seen the reports, and so I cannot comment on their substance," the statement from Bishop Wilton D. Gregory said. "But I want to reaffirm that the bishops requested these studies so that we could understand as fully as possible what caused this terrible occurrence in the life of our community to make sure that it never happens again.

    "My heart goes out to all who have suffered, and I assure them especially that the bishops are committed to fully implementing the Dallas Charter and will continue to work with the Office of Child and Youth Protection and the National Review Board to reach out to victims and prevent such abuse from occurring in the future," Gregory's statement said.

    The Dallas Charter is a plan developed by the council in 2002 to protect children from sex abuse by priests.

    Bill Burleigh, a member of the conference's National Review Board, said he would not comment until the survey is released. No clergy serve on the review board.

    According to the survey, 78 per cent of those abused were between 11 and 17, 16 per cent were 8 to 10, and nearly 6 per cent were 7 or younger.

    The survey also said that several factors contributed to the problem, including failure to grasp its gravity, overemphasis on the avoidance of scandal, use of unqualified treatment centers, misguided willingness to forgive and insufficient accountability.

    More than 44,000 priests serve in the United States, according to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

     
      Today's Top News     Top World News
     

    Bank of China floating huge bond offering

     

       
     

    Moscow police stop raiding Chinese stalls

     

       
     

    4,450 US priests accused of child sex abuse

     

       
     

    Chinese diplomats in Iraq to reopen embassy

     

       
     

    Trade surplus to fall this year

     

       
     

    First bird flu reported in northeast China

     

       
      India, Pakistan begin Kashmir talks
       
      Haiti rebels kill police chief, officers
       
      Australian teen's death sparks riots
       
      4,450 US priests accused of child sex abuse
       
      Bremer hints he may bar Iraqi Islamic law
       
      Comment: Yet another blight on US, British credibility
       
     
      Go to Another Section  
     
     
      Story Tools  
       
      News Talk  
      The evil root of all instability in the world today  
    Advertisement
             
    久久久91人妻无码精品蜜桃HD| 亚洲男人在线无码视频| 亚洲国产精品成人AV无码久久综合影院 | 亚洲av无码一区二区乱子伦as| 国产综合无码一区二区三区| 韩国19禁无遮挡啪啪无码网站| 亚洲Av无码乱码在线znlu| 亚洲AV无码久久精品色欲| 亚洲一本大道无码av天堂| 国产激情无码一区二区三区| 天堂资源中文最新版在线一区| Aⅴ精品无码无卡在线观看| 亚洲熟妇无码八AV在线播放| 国产日韩精品中文字无码| 久久精品无码免费不卡| 少妇无码一区二区二三区| 久久久久久国产精品无码下载 | 中中文字幕亚洲无线码| Aⅴ精品无码无卡在线观看| 午夜不卡无码中文字幕影院| 久久无码AV中文出轨人妻| 中文字幕在线观看免费视频| 国产成人一区二区三中文| 97无码免费人妻超| 国产精品无码A∨精品影院| 无码无套少妇毛多18PXXXX| 成人无码WWW免费视频| 在线亚洲欧美中文精品| 精品久久久久中文字| 日本乱中文字幕系列| 中文字幕色婷婷在线视频| 亚洲精品无码AV中文字幕电影网站| 国产精品无码成人午夜电影| 国产V亚洲V天堂A无码| 日韩人妻无码精品久久久不卡 | 久久亚洲AV无码精品色午夜| 最近中文字幕高清中文字幕无 | 中文字幕无码精品三级在线电影| 少妇极品熟妇人妻无码| 91精品日韩人妻无码久久不卡| 成人无码免费一区二区三区|