The filings kept on a handful of priests were known as “The Bad Boy Files,” 32 names were not to include on the church's credibly accused list, and colluding with the Archdiocese of Washington were revealed in the investigation.
The Maryland Office of the Attorney General released a report Wednesday, which details decades of child sexual abuse and said more than 100 priests or other archdiocesan personnel were accused abusers, but many names of alleged abusers were redacted.
The Maryland Office of the Attorney General on Wednesday released the 456-page grand jury report, but litigation over issues including redactions will continue to play out.
The examples include priests who asked victims to delay reporting their abuse so they could reach retirement age; prosecutors who agreed not to pursue criminal charges against known abusers; and even a secret deal with a Baltimore County judge to resolve a case quietly.
“We have issued subpoenas. We have been looking into this matter. And we will continue to do so,” Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown said on Wednesday.
Survivors of abuse by Baltimore Catholic Church personnel expressed relief that report was finally public, but some were disappointed so much information had been redacted.
The report identifies 158 priests — most of them already known — within the archdiocese accused of the “sexual abuse” and “physical torture” of more than 600 victims over the past 80 years. Investigators told the court there are likely hundreds more victims.
Across the United States, various institutions that have faced sexual abuse allegations ranging from the Boy Scouts of America to USA Gymnastics have filed for bankruptcy. Could the Archdiocese of Baltimore follow?
Legislation would enable more civil lawsuits against churches, schools and other institutions that employed or supervised perpetrators of child sexual abuse.
A state bill cleared a key Senate committee Friday to give more survivors of child sexual abuse the legal right to sue the church and other institutions complicit in the crimes.
State lawmakers are closer to settle the terms of their proposal to give more survivors of child sexual abuse the opportunity to sue the Catholic Church and other institutions complicit in the crimes.
With an order Friday from the courts, Marylanders are bracing for the release of an investigation into the history of child sexual abuse within the Archdiocese of Baltimore.