Pennsylvania bishops hid sex abuse by 'monster' priest for 40 years, jury finds
Source: The Guardian
Pennsylvania bishops hid sex abuse by 'monster' priest for 40 years, jury finds
Graphic grand jury report reveals that bishops in a Pennsylvania
diocese allegedly covered up sex crimes against hundreds of children
for decades
Jamiles Lartey in New York
Wednesday 2 March 2016 19.20 GMT
His alleged victims were humiliated, abused, raped and kept quiet. They were supposed to be able to trust him.
Monsignor Francis McCaa spent nearly 40 years in the ministry, and for 25 of them, he was a serial abuser of young boys in his care, some as young as eight years old, according to a scathing report by a Pennsylvania state investigative grand jury.
“Father Francis McCaa was a monster,” the grand jury found on Tuesday, after investigating the sexual misconduct of dozens of clergy in the Altoona–Johnstown diocese in Pennsylvania. The report was largely spurred by the discovery of a secret diocesan archive detailing administrative action around sex abuse, uncovered in August through a search warrant.
“Father McCaa sexually offended on (altar boys) in almost every interaction which would permit physical contact,” the jurors reported. Victims testified that McCaa potentially groped and fondled the genitals and anus of “hundreds” of children during his time as a parish priest, leaving a trail of trauma in his wake. Some reported damage to their sexuality and trouble with keeping personal relationships. At least one of McCaa’s victims killed themselves. “McCaa was as deadly a predator as any child molester can be,” the jury concluded.
And when boys did have the courage to come forward, they were ignored by the religious and secular authorities who should have been expected to intervene, the grand jury found. Bishop James Hogan knew that McCaa had engaged in sex acts with multiple altar boys by 1985, the report alleges, adding: “Hogan enabled it.”
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Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/mar/02/pennsylvania-bishops-hid-priest-sex-abuse-children
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