Camden Diocese Will End Efforts To Block State's Sex-Abuse Investigation: Report

CAMDEN, NJ — The Diocese of Camden will no longer oppose a statewide investigation into clergy sex abuse, according to its new bishop.

Bishop Joseph A. Williams asked the church's attorneys to inform the state Supreme Court that the diocese no longer wants to prevent a grand jury from investigating sexual abuse by clergy, he told The Philadelphia Inquirer on Monday.

Williams's position marks a stunning reversal for the South Jersey diocese, which has spent years in sealed documents trying to block the investigation, the Inquirer reported last week.

In 2018, then-state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal formed a task force to investigate sexual abuse by Catholic priests and other members of clergy. Grewal was influenced by a Pennsylvania grand jury's report outlining alleged sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests against more than 1,000 victims in the state.

But in the years since, the Camden Diocese's attorneys argued that state law doesn't allow prosecutors to prepare grand jury reports about private institutions that can't be prosecuted because of the statute of limitations or issues with evidence.

Two lower courts sided with the church, which asked the state Supreme Court last week to prevent prosecutors from pursuing a grand jury report on the matter.

But Williams, who became Camden's new bishop in March, says the church will no longer try to prevent a grand jury from being impaneled.

"We're not going to block a grand jury," Williams told the Inquirer. "We're not going to block a report. We're not going to block a presentment or presentment report."

However, the state will need a favorable ruling from the Supreme Court for the probe to proceed, according to a spokesperson for the state attorney general's office.

"We welcome the introspection that produced this shift in the Diocese of Camden's position in the wake of last Monday's oral argument," the spokesperson told Patch via email. "For now, however, the State remains subject to a trial court ruling, entered at the Diocese of Camden's urging, blocking this presentment process from going forward. After years of litigation, kept hidden from public view until the Supreme Court granted our unsealing motion this past March, we look forward to an opinion addressing these important questions."

In 2019, New Jersey's five Catholic dioceses revealed the names of 188 priests and deacons who have been credibly accused of sexually abusing a child. The list, which also included deceased and former clergy, included 30 people linked to the Camden Diocese.

The diocese filed for bankruptcy in 2020, citing the financial impacts of sex-abuse lawsuits and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Two years later, the diocese agreed to pay $87.5 million to more than 360 survivors of sexual abuse. Following challenges from the church's insurance companies, a federal judge approved the settlement last year.

The Camden Diocese represents Roman Catholic parishes in Atlantic, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem counties.