The Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office has released findings of its investigation into allegations of sexual abuse in a trio of Roman Catholic dioceses in the state.
Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell said in a press release that there’s evidence that more than 270 clerics in the dioceses of Fall River, Springfield, and Worcester abused nearly 1,000 children.
The Democrat said the dioceses have implemented “important reforms” since the widespread exposure of clergy sex abuse in Massachusetts in 2002. But Campbell adds, the investigation uncovered “decades of failures by diocesan leaders to adequately respond to allegations of child sexual abuse.”
The attorney general's office said the Worcester Diocese is the only diocese in Massachusetts that does not maintain a publicly accessible list of accused clergy.
In addition to calls for increased transparency, enforcement, and prevention strategies by the dioceses, Campbell is calling on the state legislature to pass legislation to benefit survivors.
Campbell is seeking the elimination of a $20,000 charitable immunity cap for civil claims of child sex abuse, the elimination of the statute of limitations for such claims, and the creation of an indefinite lookback period for survivors whose civil claims have already expired.