What to Know
- A report into child sex abuse in 6 Pennsylvania Catholic dioceses says thousands of young victims were abused over many decades.
- A grand jury worked for two years to investigate more than 300 alleged predator priests. Some clergy opposed the release of the report.
- In the wake of the report, some Pennsylvania lawmakers are looking to change mandatory reporting laws.
More than a month after releasing a grand jury report detailing some of the alleged sexual abuse of children by members of Pennsylvania’s Catholic clergy, state Attorney General Josh Shapiro held a roundtable discussion with victims of clergy abuse and lawmakers looking to change the rules.
Tuesday's event in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, examined a proposal by State Rep. Todd Stephens, R-Montgomery, which would strengthen mandatory reporting laws in Pennsylvania and the reform recommendations made by the grand jury, Shapiro's office said.
Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele and Bucks County District Attorney Matthew Weintraub also joined the discussion.
The roundtable comes a day after parents of children in the Roman Catholic Church and survivors of alleged sexual abuse by clergy sued all eight of Pennsylvania dioceses and their bishops to compel them to release information about allegations in an unrelated action.
The damning, years-long grand jury report released by Shapiro last month implicates hundreds of Catholic clergy members in six of Pennsylvania’s dioceses of sexually abusing thousands of young victims over many decades.
Lurid details released throughout more than 1,300 pages include rape, abortions, confessions and cover-ups. It took the grand jury more than two years to fully investigate the abuse allegations against more than 300 priests contained in the sometimes explicit report.
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The grand jury investigated dioceses in Allentown, Erie, Greensburg, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh and Scranton, which together minister to more than 1.7 million Catholics. About 25 percent of people throughout the state identify as Catholic, according to the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference.
The scathing grand jury report marks the most sweeping look into sexual abuse within the Catholic Church in the United States, Shapiro said last month.
NBC10 and Telemundo 62 were among the news organizations that joined a court case pressing for the report's release. Read it here (warning: explicit and disturbing content).
