Archdiocese Can Release Redacted Names In Sex Abuse Report: Brown

BALTIMORE, MD — A response to a 463-page grand jury report on allegations of sexual abuse within the Archdiocese of Baltimore by church officials drew pushback Friday from Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown.

Church officials can release the 10 names the court redacted, Brown said. Those individuals are living and are accused in the report of committing child sexual abuse.

The archdiocese said none of the 10 individuals is in ministry today in the Archdiocese.

"To be clear, the redactions were done pursuant to the requirements set forth by a court order. The archdiocese can, at any time, publish those 10 names on their website as individuals who have been credibly accused of child sexual abuse, yet they have not done so, despite having the full and completed report since November, as well as information about those 10 individuals for many years," Brown's statement said. "They are uniquely positioned to legally release those names to the public at any moment as part of their credibly accused list, should they choose to do so.”

The report released April 5 details allegations of sexual abuse within the Archdiocese of Baltimore and the cover-up of that abuse by the leadership of the Catholic Church. The redacted report, which a judge ordered released in February, details "a long history of widespread abuse and systemic cover-up by clergy," according to Brown.

The report also identifies nearly 160 former and current priests, as well as other members of the church that are accused of sexually abusing more than 600 children over eight decades.

The list of clergy accused of abuse is posted on the Archdiocese’s website: List of Priests and Brothers Accused of Child Sexual Abuse – Archdiocese of Baltimore.

“This report illustrates the depraved, systemic failure of the Archdiocese to protect the most vulnerable – the children it was charged to keep safe,” Brown said in a statement. “Time and again, the Archdiocese chose to safeguard the institution and avoid scandal instead of protecting the children in its care. This report shines a light on this overwhelming tragedy, and it was the courage of the survivors that made it possible.”

Read the redacted report here.

"We believe, as we did with our own initial publication of a list of accused priests and brothers in 2002, that acknowledging the painful reality of child sexual abuse in the Church is a significant source of support for victims and a moment of transparency that helps in the effort to protect children," the archdiocese said in its reaction. " We also appreciate the Attorney General’s recognition of some efforts made by the Church, but the report does not acknowledge the full scope of the archdiocese’s efforts to protect children in recent decades. The attorney general’s report also includes certain inaccuracies and does not give a clear impression that the number of incidents of child sexual abuse in the archdiocese has fallen dramatically since its peak in the late 1970s."

Read the comments by the archdiocese online.

In 2019, the Archdiocese of Baltimore released the names of priests accused of sexual abuse but disclosed few details despite an extensive investigation. During the process, authorities subpoenaed hundreds of thousands of documents and interviewed former priests, church employees, witnesses, and survivors of sexual abuse. Authorities then compiled a report on their findings titled "Clergy Abuse in Maryland."

In November, former Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh filed a motion to release the report to the public.

"For decades, survivors reported sexual abuse perpetrated by Catholic priests, and for decades the church covered up the abuse rather than holding the abusers accountable and protecting its congregations. The Archdiocese of Baltimore was no exception," the motion filed with the Circuit Court of Baltimore City said.

Maryland's probe was the second in the country by a state prosecutor, after Pennsylvania, according to The Washington Post. Frosh's push to release the report came on the 20th anniversary of the emergence of the Catholic Church's sexual abuse scandal in the United States, starting with an investigative series by The Boston Globe.

In ordering the report's release, Circuit Judge Robert Taylor Jr. said not disclosing it to the public would be an "injustice."

"The need for disclosure outweighs the need for secrecy," Taylor wrote, according to a Banner Banner report. "The only form of justice that may now be available is a public reckoning — a disclosure of the facts as found (by) the Office of Attorney General and contained in this report."

In addition to the list of accused abusers, the report contains hundreds of pages of abuse accounts by victims.

According to the report, abusers often singled out children who were "especially isolated or vulnerable" because of shyness, lack of confidence, or problems at home.

"They groomed the victims with presents and special attention," the report states. "They told their victims the abuse was 'God’s will' and that no one would doubt the word of a priest. Some threatened that the victim or victim’s family would go to hell if they told anyone."

Ahead of the report's release, Archbishop William Lori posted a letter and video online asking Catholics to join him in praying for survivors of sexual abuse.

"The report is likely to evoke many emotions: anger, disgust, disillusionment and sadness among them," Lori wrote. "On behalf of the Archdiocese, I offer my heartfelt apology to the victim-survivors and their families once again today, as I will tomorrow and every day that an expression of regret and atonement is meaningful to those who have suffered."