PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The U.S. Justice Department has opened an investigation of child sexual abuse inside the Roman Catholic Church in Pennsylvania, using subpoenas to demand confidential files and testimony from church leaders, according to two people familiar with the probe.
The subpoenas, served last week, follow a scathing state grand jury report over the summer that found that 301 "predator priests" in Pennsylvania had molested more than 1,000 children over seven decades and that church leaders had covered up for the offenders.
"The federal government has so far been utterly silent on the Catholic cases."
Now federal prosecutors are bringing the Justice Department's considerable resources to bear, according to two people who were not authorized to discuss the investigation publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
"It's groundbreaking if we're going to see one of the U.S. attorneys pursuing the Catholic cases," said Marci Hamilton, a University of Pennsylvania professor and chief executive of Child USA, a nonprofit think tank focused on preventing child abuse. "The federal government has so far been utterly silent on the Catholic cases."
Four of the state's eight Roman Catholic dioceses — Philadelphia, Erie, Allentown and Harrisburg — acknowledged receiving subpoenas and said they would cooperate or were working with Justice Department officials. Other dioceses did not immediately respond to calls for comment.
There was no indication the Justice Department is planning a more ambitious and expensive investigation of clergy abuse nationwide.
U.S. Attorney William McSwain of Philadelphia, who issued the Pennsylvania subpoenas, wants to know if priests, bishops, seminarians or others committed any federal crimes.
He demanded the bishops turn over any evidence that anyone in their ranks took children across state lines for illicit purposes; sent sexual images or messages via phone or computer; instructed anyone not to contact police; reassigned suspected predators; or used money or other assets as part of the scandal.
The grand jury subpoenas also seek documents stored in "Secret Archives," ''Historical Archives" or "Confidential Files," and records related to the dioceses' organizational charts, finances, insurance coverage, clergy assignments and treatment of priests, according to the people who spoke to the AP.
A representative for McSwain declined to comment, as did a Justice Department spokeswoman.
"It's a courageous move, whenever prosecutors take on something that there's no precedent for, that is uncertain. You're investing resources with potentially no return. But it needs to be done," said David Hickton, the former U.S. attorney in western Pennsylvania who considered accusing the Altoona-Johnson Diocese of criminal or civil racketeering in 2016 but left office before the investigation was completed. The diocese eventually settled with his successor, signing a consent decree promising to make reforms.
Though child sex abuse cases are generally handled by local prosecutors, federal prosecutors can step in at times. McSwain's predecessors have been aggressive in pursuing international "sex tourism" cases in recent years, once bringing teenage boys from the Eastern European nation of Moldova to Philadelphia to testify about an American businessman who preyed on them.
The nearly 900-page Pennsylvania grand jury report found that church leaders had engaged in a systematic cover-up by shuffling accused priests around to different parishes and in some cases working to prevent police investigations. Because of the statute of limitations, however, only two priests were charged as a result of the investigation. Many other priests are dead.
The report led to the resignation last week of Cardinal Donald Wuerl as archbishop of Washington. He was accused of helping to protect some child-molesting priests when he was bishop of Pittsburgh from 1988 to 2006.
"It's a courageous move, whenever prosecutors take on something that there's no precedent for."
Legal experts said that if federal prosecutors can show that church leaders systematically covered up for child-molesting priests in the past five years, dioceses could be charged under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, the federal law originally passed to bring down the Mafia.
"If you were going to file a criminal RICO or a civil RICO, the decision is how much of the leadership do you have to capture?" Hickton asked Thursday. "The bishops themselves are captains of ships, but the admiral is the pope."
Two Eastern Catholic dioceses in Pennsylvania also appear to be subjects of the federal grand jury investigation.
A leader of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia wrote to parishioners last week saying he was cooperating with a subpoena and would turn over documents promptly. A lawyer for the Byzantine Archeparchy of Pittsburgh told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette this week that it, too, is involved in the preliminary stages of an investigation. The lawyer declined to elaborate to the AP.
The grand jury report, issued by Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, led to a showdown in the state Legislature this week when he pushed to give child-abuse victims a two-year window to sue the church in cases otherwise too old to pursue.
Church leaders opposed the change, warning it would cripple their ability to fund Catholic charities and enrich lawyers. Lawmakers ended the session Wednesday without taking action.
Shapiro declined to comment Thursday on the federal investigation.
In 2011, the Philadelphia district attorney's office brought a landmark cover-up case against Monsignor William Lynn, a longtime aide to two Philadelphia cardinals. The case illustrated how difficult it can be to make such charges stick.
Lynn became the first U.S. church official ever prosecuted for the alleged cover-up of child molestation by priests when he was arrested on child-endangerment charges. At trial, he said he had merely followed orders from above. A jury convicted him in 2012. He spent three years in and out of prison as his conviction was twice overturned by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. He is awaiting a third trial.
A survivor for 49 years of abuse by an RSCJ when I was in High School, I have only recently allowed myself to face the fact that “The Crisis” was caused primarily by the love of money. Secrecy was used to protect The Church from the drastic reduction in Donations which would occur if The Faithful knew the full scope of the abuse. The Cover Up was, and still is, against the Law. It’s Charities Fraud, if nothing else. It was and is a conscious effort to prevent the full truth from seeing the light of day. It is that simple, and that tragic.
Sheila, I pray for your healing. But, I disagree with your conclusion that greed is at the root. I don't doubt it plays a role, but I think it is more embarrassment and guilt. These clergy were trusted by their flock, but abused that trust. As stated in the Gospel and in several Epistles, sin by members of the Church, especially the clergy, can lead people away from God. I think that some bishops were mainly hoping (wrongly) that covering it up would prevent a smear on the Church. One can see some of that in the Pennsylvania Grand Jury report, where bishops transferred abusive priests to other bishops, but warned them about putting those priests in ministry with direct leadership of a flock. I know many were also transferred within the diocese, but as one sees in the John Jay report, the peak of abuse took place in the '80's when psychologists thought disordered actions were curable, and priest were sent to rehab before being reassigned. As for charities fraud, I do not think that charge is appropriate. Given the relatively minuscule amount of payoff money spent, compared with the amount actually spent on charitable work, I do not think it will stand up in court. At best, I think bishops could be accused of and prosecuted for embezzlement, using charitable donations for their personal (and illegal) use, which could hold up in court.
It’s about time the Feds expose this RC Conspiracy to abuse children and cover up the abuse.
If you are hoping to expose a churchwide conspiracy to abuse children, I think you will be sorely disappointed. The federal government will cause damage because it is impossible to find a sinless person. I remember a police officer friend of mine who once said that in the eyes of a police officer, everybody is guilty of something; I extend that admonition to prosecutors. The question is will it stand up in a court of law. Federal prosecutors apparently intend to use RICO as an excuse to root out wrongdoing, but I believe that they, like the Pennsylvania AG, do not expect to bring many, if anyone, to trial. For the last 15 years, the Catholic Church in America has gone a long way to reduce abuse by clergy and and other ministers to the point of being minuscule over the last two years. What has been exposed was reported by bishops to the police, not the other way around.
I think you're thinking like a bishop with a blind spot. The problem is the cover-up. And even after 2002, bishops continued to protect perpetrators. Not as much as before but still the protection racket continued. Philly had creditably accused perpetrators in place until 2011--just an example. And there it took a second grand jury report to challenge that.
If the bishops will not govern the church it sounds like the courts might.