The Massachusetts attorney general found 900 “documented” cases of alleged sexual abuse in three Catholic dioceses in the state over 70 years that had never been revealed before but said the full magnitude of the abuse “cannot be determined,” according to a nearly 200-page report released Wednesday.
Catholic leaders at the three dioceses — Worcester, Springfield and Fall River — knew about the abuse, “yet did not take effective action to prevent it or to examine the institutional failures of leadership that led to scores of children being victimized at the hands of abusive priests,” the report alleges.
The investigation found accusations against 275 members of the clergy across the three dioceses, but because of underreporting and possible destruction of records, “the full magnitude of child sexual abuse by clergy in the Dioceses of Fall River, Springfield, and Worcester cannot be determined,” the report said.
Stock photo of a priest giving communion.
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It also found no grounds for new criminal prosecutions because most of the known abuse occurred before a 2002 law mandated that priests and other clergy members report child abuse and criminalized reckless endangerment of children, according to the report. While the statute of limitations has expired on those cases, the AG’s office said it referred any cases potentially within the statute of limitations to the applicable district attorney’s office.
The Worcester and Fall River dioceses both expressed sorrow for past abuse in statements and said that since 2002, both dioceses refer any allegations to the respective district attorneys.
“We will study the AG’s report to identify any additional improvements that can be made to respond to victims of past abuse and to continue to strengthen efforts to keep children safe,” a statement from the Diocese of Worcester said.
Writing for the Diocese of Fall River, Bishop Edgar M. da Cunha, said, “We are carefully assessing the AGO report and will continue to take the steps necessary to foster a culture of protection that we have worked to build over the past decade.”
ABC News has reached out to the Diocese of Springfield for comment.
In an introduction to the report, Commonwealth Attorney General Andrea Campbell wrote, “Over decades, diocesan leaders failed to adequately respond to allegations and warning signs; transferred accused and offending priests to other parishes without disclosing the reasons for those transfers; returned priests to ministry following treatment without adequate supervision; failed to meaningfully enforce restrictions; concealed the reasons priests were removed from ministry; and failed to consistently report allegations to law enforcement.”
Andrea Joy Campbell, attorney general of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, during the WSJ Health Forum in Boston, Massachusetts, Feb. 21, 2024.
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The investigation began in 2019 and interviewed a hundred individuals and scoured through more than 300,000 documents, according to the AG’s office.
“We reviewed the files of nearly 300 clergy members, including what are known as the “secret archives,” according to the report. “We also reviewed countless other documents such as police reports, criminal case filings, civil case filings, diocesan policies and procedures, diocesan training materials, and media reports and publications.”
The revelations in the report are different from Boston Globe’s investigation into abuse in the Archdiocese of Boston — which was released in 2002 and led to the change in Massachusetts law.
Other factors that limited reporting of abuse were the trust and favor Catholic leaders carried in many Massachusetts households, the report said — many feared “reputational harm” if a member of a family reported abuse in the community.
“We received reports from victims that some police departments simply turned a blind eye to allegations of sexual abuse by priests, and the diocese was able to ‘prevail upon the local papers not to write about it and upon the district attorney’s office not to prosecute,'” according to the report.
The report also says that priests during the time period were often given access to a vulnerable population of children, making the results “catastrophic.”
It also offered testimony from survivors who detailed their experience in being abused by priests. Many say the trauma of being abused has followed them into adulthood.
Outlined in the report are recommended reforms the Catholic church can implement to prevent the abuse in the future.
