It’s been about ten years since news of sexual abuse of children clergy and the systematic protection of offenders in the Archdiocese of Boston was first exposed. Now the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston has released a list of accused sex offenders in the Archdiocese.
The list includes those whose cases have been who found guilty of abuse, those with pending allegations, those accused and then defrocked and priests now deceased. It does not include those who have died before their cases could be resolved, those who members of religious orders, and those who may have served in Boston but who were accused of abuse elsewhere. Also not included were those who were accused, but whose allegations could not be substantiated and whose names were never released to the public.
The Scottish Catholic Observer has the story:
Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston last week released an online list of the names of priests in the archdiocese who have been accused of sex abuse within the last 60 years.
The names of 159 accused priests were released on the archdiocesan website last Thursday and compiled into lists including priests who have been found guilty of abuse, those with pending allegations, those accused and then defrocked and priests now deceased.
Explaining his decision to release the names, Cardinal O’Malley said that the archdiocese is ‘continually evaluating its policies and practices to ensure that our child protection and abuse prevention efforts are further strengthened.’
The paper reports that 91 names were not released on the website:
Cardinal O’Malley said that although 248 of Boston’s priests and two deacons have been accused of child sex abuse since 1950, he decided against releasing 91 of the names.
These included deceased priests who were not publicly accused, those working in Boston under religious orders or other dioceses and those accused in unsubstantiated accusations that never went public.
Also not included on the list are any members of religious orders accused of sexually abusing minors outside the archdiocese, since the archdiocese ‘does not determine the outcome in such cases.’
In explaining his decision not to include 91 of the names, Cardinal O’Malley said: “Not only must the archdiocese honour its commitment to protect children, it must also be mindful of the due process concerns of those whose guilt has not been established.”