Illinois probe reveals rampant sexual abuse in Catholic Church

The report names 451 clerics and religious brothers with substantiated claims of sexual abuse against them in the US.

The attorney general of Illinois in the midwestern United States has released a 696-page report revealing widespread sexual abuse on the part of Roman Catholic clergy in the state — abuse it says went under-reported and, in some cases, tolerated.

The report tallied 1,997 child survivors across seven decades, from the 1950s through 2019. Among the findings were that 451 clerics and religious brothers had substantiated claims of sexual abuse against them.

That is approximately 149 more child sex abusers than previously disclosed by the six Catholic dioceses that operate across Illinois, according to the report, which reveals the alleged abusers’ names and the dates on which they are accused of harming children.

“These perpetrators may never be held accountable in a court of law, but by naming them here, the intention is to provide a public accounting and a measure of healing to survivors who have long suffered in silence,” Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said in a press release.

Raoul picked up the investigation after his predecessor Lisa Madigan decided not to seek reelection in 2018. Madigan had launched a probe that year after accusing the Catholic Church of undercounting the number of child sex abusers among its staff.

In the wake of a blockbuster 2018 grand jury investigation into the Catholic Church in the state of Pennsylvania, the Illinois dioceses initially disclosed 103 alleged abusers on its website.

Illinois probe reveals rampant sexual abuse in Catholic Church | Crime News | Al Jazeera