Grand jury investigation of Catholic Church sexual abuse in Pennsylvania

This investigation focused on sexual abuse by Catholic clergy in six of the eight Pennsylvania dioceses – Allentown, Scranton, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, Greensburg, and Erie.

[1] The grand jury's report, released in August 2018, was the broadest examination by a government agency in the United States of child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.

[5][6] A similar grand jury report which inspired this investigation had been released in 2016 detailing sex abuse in another Archdiocese of Philadelphia suffragan diocese in Altoona-Johnstown.

[14] Sweeney pleaded guilty on July 31, 2018 to molesting a 4th grade boy at some point between September 1991 and June 1992 was given a 11 1/2 month to 5-year prison sentence in December 2018, which he immediately began serving.

[15][16] Poulson plead guilty to two counts related to sexual abuse in October 2018 and began serving a 2 1/2 to 14-year jail sentence in January 2019.

[19][20][21] In April 2018, the Diocese of Erie published a list of 34 priests and 17 laypeople who had been "credibly accused" of sexually abusing children.

[23][24] On July 31, 2018, John T. Sweeney, a former priest in the Diocese of Greensburg, pleaded guilty to molesting a 4th grade boy at some point between September 1991 and June 1992.

[26] On August 1, 2018, the Diocese of Harrisburg released the names of 71 clergy members accused of engaging in sexual abuse of children.

[31] Kerr stated that the Diocese would post the list of "credibly accused priests" on its website the day a grand jury report is released.

[37] The New York Times called the report "the broadest examination yet by a government agency in the United States of child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.

Winters criticized the media response to the report and that it was weaponized by far-right groups such as Church Militant and LifeSiteNews in order to takedown Wuerl and attack Pope Francis.

"[2] The report also stated that some priests in the Diocese of Pittsburgh ran a child porn ring in the 1970s and 1980s and also "used whips, violence and sadism in raping their victims".

[46][47] The children who were sexually molested and had their pictures taken for the child porn ring were given gold crosses so they would be recognized by other abusive priests who sought to use them.

[44] The report also revealed that the priest not only impregnated the minor, but also married her after forging a head pastor's name on a marriage certificate and then divorced her months later.

[48] Parts of the memo read “I was not surprised to learn from other witnesses from the Elk County area, that there are likely to be other victims” and that "it is likely that there may be others who were also of the age for the offenses to be considered delicts, but to what end is it necessary to follow every lead?”[48] Bartchak also stated in another memo following a meeting with Trautman on August 29, 2005, "Bishop Trautman decided that in order to preclude further scandal, these additional witnesses should not be contacted, especially given the fact that it is not likely that they will lead to information concerning delicts involving minors under 16 years of age.”[48] The report named several bishops as having helped to protect abusive priests and cover up complaints.

[49] It states that Wuerl allowed Father Ernest Paone to be transferred to another diocese, despite a history of accusations of child abuse dating back to the early 1960s.

[60] Trautman's predecessor Bishop Michael Murphy was also criticized in the report for allowing Gawronski to remain in the Diocese despite numerous allegations of sexual abuse.

[60] Persico subsequently stated that he felt that the grand jury report should have included the names of accused laypeople who worked for the Erie Diocese as well.

[70] Archbishop Robert J. Carlson of the Archdiocese of St. Louis invited the Missouri attorney general's office to conduct an inspection of the archdiocesan files and to produce a report on clerical abuse in the state.

It stated, "The Holy See treats with great seriousness the work of the Investigating Grand Jury of Pennsylvania and the lengthy Interim Report it has produced.

"[74] Moreover, "With shame and repentance, we acknowledge as an ecclesial community that we were not where we should have been, that we did not act in a timely manner, realizing the magnitude and the gravity of the damage done to so many lives.

[75] The article noted that canon law already provides for the possibility of removal from ecclesiastical office "for grave reasons", and in his motu proprio of June 4, 2016, Pope Francis stated that these grave reasons include "the negligence of a Bishop in the exercise of his office, and in particular in relation to cases of sexual abuse inflicted on minors and vulnerable adults".

"[77][78][clarification needed] On November 26, 2019, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf signed into law legislation which significantly reformed the state's child sex abuse statute.

[3][79] In addition, the legislation also makes conversations with law enforcement agents exempt from non-disclosure agreements and creates a fund for victims of sexual abuse to pay for abuse-related therapy.

[3] On April 16, 2020, Sharpio revealed in an article for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that two recent Pennsylvania Supreme Court decisions eliminated the ability for any institution, including the Catholic Church, to prevent authorities in the state of Pennsylvania from notifying people if someone who was convicted of violent sex abuse resides in their community and allows sexual predators who seek to end their sex abuse compulsion to get mental hospital treatment.

[87] On May 20, 2020, it was revealed that Timothy Paul McGettigan, a former parishioner of the St. Catharine of Siena in Reading who was now living in Texas, had filed a lawsuit against the Diocese of Allentown.

[92] In January 2020, a lawsuit against the Diocese of Pittsburgh which was filed by sex abuse survivors, as well as their parents, in September 2018 was allowed to move forward.

[93] In February 2020, it was reported that the lawsuit didn't involve requests for monetary awards, but rather greater disclosure of sex abuse records.

[95] On August 7, 2020, a new lawsuit was filed against the Diocese of Pittsburgh from a man alleging that Father Leo Burchianti attacked and raped him twice when he was an altar boy.

[96] Burchianti, who died in 2013, is also accused of having inappropriate sexual relationships with at least eight boys and was previously mentioned in the state grand jury report.