Prosecutors say bishops aren’t cooperating

Associated Press

Roman Catholics bishops across the country reviewing personnel records since a sex abuse scandal hit the Boston Archdiocese have found credible allegations against dozens of priests.

Yet, many of the clergy will never go before a judge.

Acting independently, some bishops have determined the charges are too old and the statute of limitations in the cases has run out. They’ve refused to give the priests’ names to prosecutors.

Church officials say they are following the law, but critics believe the bishops are making a decision that should be reserved for prosecutors or judges.

"It’s a pretty unique situation for them to be making that decision unilaterally," said Jeff Pine, a former Rhode Island attorney general, whose office brought several sex abuse cases against priests.

"Ordinarily, a victim comes forward, makes a complaint to police or prosecutors, and then the prosecution makes a decision on coming forward. This is a fairly atypical situation where you have the supervising authority themselves saying there’s no case here."

In Pennsylvania, at least 58 priests in five of the state’s eight dioceses have faced accusations of abuse over the past several decades, church officials said. Catholic authorities also said they won’t turn over the names of accused priests now because the five-year statute of limitations for prosecution has expired.

"We follow the letter of the law," said Philadelphia Archdiocese spokeswoman Cathy Rossi, when asked to explain the reporting policy.

Some critics also see a problem in the Archdiocese of Detroit, where a committee including church officials, a judge, a social worker and others screens complaints against priests before notifying civil authorities.

"There’s an innate conflict of interest when you want to police your own," said David Gorcyca, a prosecutor in Oakland County, Mich.