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Georgia Church Sexual Assault Lawyer
Georgia attorney general Carr takes aim at Catholic Church over sex abuse
Catholic officials have often been slow to take action about cases of sexual abuse committed by their members. However, the cause of encouraging victims to come forward and seek justice has been taken up by law enforcement. One example of this occurred in Florida, where authorities set up a tip site where any past victim of abuse could report abuse confidentially. Another is in Georgia, where Attorney General Chris Carr reached out to victims offering help.
Church Sexual Assault Lawyer Georgia
Carr is a practicing Catholic himself, and in August of 2018 made the following public statement in a news release:
"As Attorney General of Georgia and a Roman Catholic myself, I am concerned and angered by continued reports of abuse in the Catholic Church. In addition, I remain deeply troubled by the overall response to this crisis by leadership of the Church…. Although neither the Georgia Constitution nor the Georgia legislature has granted authority for the Attorney General to investigate or prosecute crimes against children, I will still commit any and all appropriate attention and resources from the Department of Law to hold accountable those who have committed or concealed any crimes in the past, to provide support to those who are victims and to do everything in my power to protect our citizens in the future."
Georgia Church Sexual Assault Lawyer
As Carr’s statement makes clear, he was not prompted by any official professional responsibility, since the state Attorney General’s office is not able to prosecute any crimes of this nature that are reported to them. Instead, the responsibility falls with local prosecutors, and Carr urges victims to contact their local Attorney General, either in the place they currently live or the area where the abuse occurred. However, he makes clear that his office will gladly forward information on to the proper authority, or provide any citizen with the relevant contact information.
Church Sexual Assault Lawyer Georgia
In his statement, he criticized the church’s past intransigence, urging “leadership, clergy and lay members of the Catholic Church in Georgia to unwaveringly commit to a new day of transparency and openness to solve this crisis, allow victims to truly heal, and ensure that nothing like this occurs again ….If a priest was responsible for the abuse, then I call on the Church to take immediate action to remove him from the ranks of the priesthood….If leadership in the Catholic Church in Georgia has participated in any way to conceal or shield these individuals from punishment or prosecution, I ask that those individuals be removed from leadership and be held accountable.”
Georgia Church Sexual Assault Lawyer
This statement appeared in the wake of a shocking 2018 Pennsylvania grand jury report that showed the scale of the abuse and cover-up in the church. Carr’s statement suggests the role that Catholics in positions of authority can play in speaking out about this crisis.
Church Sexual Assault Lawyer Georgia
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