Devastating in its scope and discovery, Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown’s Report on Child Sexual Abuse in the Archdiocese of Baltimore is now public and available to read.
The introduction to the 463-page report reads, in part, “In 2018, the Maryland Office of the Attorney General launched a Grand Jury investigation into the Archdiocese of Baltimore, examining criminal allegations of child sexual abuse by clergy, seminarians, deacons, and employees of the Archdiocese.
“The Office of the Attorney General also set out to investigate efforts by the leadership of the Catholic Church to hide sexual abuse. The Grand Jury of Baltimore City issued subpoenas to the Archdiocese, as well as to individual parishes, religious orders, and St. Mary’s Seminary. Hundreds of thousands of documents dating back to the 1940s were produced in response to the subpoenas, including treatment reports, personnel records, transfer reports, and policies and procedures.”
The link to the report is to the right. It’s an interim release and contains redactions by order of the Circuit Court for Baltimore City.
From the press release from the office of the Attorney General:
“Included in the Report are 156 current or former Catholic clergy, seminarians, deacons, members of Catholic religious orders, teachers at Catholic schools, and other employees of the Archdiocese known to the Attorney General’s Office to have been the subject of credible allegations of child sexual abuse committed in the Archdiocese of Baltimore or to have relocated to the Archdiocese in the wake of child sexual abuse committed in other dioceses.
“The Report details the abuse known to have been committed by these individuals and the actions – and failures to act – of Archdiocesan officials in response. The Report also identifies 43 other clergy who served in some capacity or resided within the Archdiocese but who committed sexual abuse outside the Archdiocese of Baltimore. The Archdiocese of Baltimore encompasses Baltimore City and nine counties in central and western Maryland (Allegany, Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Frederick, Garrett, Harford, Howard, and Washington counties).
I post the report here as a reminder that the issue of child sexual abuse is not limited to the Archdiocese of Baltimore. While the report is a difficult read, its findings cry out to be shared, considered, and acted upon.
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