Between 1950 and 2002, more than 4,450 priests were accused of sexual abuse by minors. This number represents about four percent of the priests who served during the 52-year period of a study ordered by U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).
Researchers from John Jay College of Criminal Knowledge were contracted to investigate the allegations of sexual abuse by Catholic priests.
The sexual-abuse scandal began to heat up in the 1980s. Protesters began picketing bishops' conference meetings and nervous insurance companies began excluding clergy sexual abuse from insurance policies.
A priest in the Lafayette, Louisiana, Diocese Gilbert Gauthe was the first to face high-profile prosecution as a result of the scandal. Gauthe pled guilty to molesting 11 boys however more than 100 boys had made allegations. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
The John Jay researchers found that 78% of all allegations were made by pubescent boys between the ages of 11 and 17 meaning the priests were technically engaged in hebephilia rather than pedophilia. Stipulating the exact nature of the offense helps investigators construct profiles and provides the means to succesfully treat offenders.
About 6,700 of the nearly 11,000 reported allegations were investigated and substantiated. Of those which were not investigated, 3,300 of the accused priests had died and the remainder of the allegations could not be substantiated.
According to the John Jay report, the incidents peaked in the 1970s and have now decreased to the point they were in the 1950s.
About two thirds of the accusations were made after 1993 with another one-third in 2002-03. "Thus, prior to 1993, only one-third of the cases were known to church officials," states the report.
Nearly 40 percent of the priests who were accused of sexual abuse, states the John Jay report, participated in treatment programs.
In 2002 the USCCB overwhelmingly approved the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People. Three portions of the Charter have since been revised.
Following the passage of the Charter, Bishop Wilton Gregory, USCCB president, stated the bishops themselves were guilty because what they failed to do contributed to the sexual abuse by clergy.
The church claims the Charter has lead to many changes including:
Victims' assistance coordinators are in place throughout the United States to "assist dioceses in responding to the pastoral needs of those who have been injured by abuse."
The Office for Child and Youth Protection has been established.
Each diocese/eparchy has been ordered to report allegations of sexual abuse with minors to authorities even if the victim is no longer a minor.
If a priest or deacon admits even a single act of sexual abuse of a minor regardless of when it occurred, he is permanently removed from the ministry. In some instances, priests can be dismissed from the clerical state entirely.
Priests who admit sexual abuse are offered treatment.
A background search is to be performed on all potential and practicing priests as well as all other personnel and volunteers who will have unsupervised contact with minors.
The Catholic Church has paid more than two billion dollars to the victims as a result of the scandal. The largest settlement on record was $660 million to 500 male victims by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
For approximately 20 years, a group of volunteers has been fighting for the rights and justice of victims of sexual abuse by priests. The group, known as Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests or SNAP, continues to publish perceived missteps made by both religious leaders and judges.
