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Illinois Church Sexual Assault Lawyer
Child sex abuse scandal Chicago Archdiocese shocks community
The Chicago archdiocese in Illinois serves 2.2 million members of the faith over an area of 1400 square miles, with over a third of residents of the state identifying as Catholic. So it may come as no surprise that it has had its own chapters in the ongoing saga of clergy sexual abuse.
Church Sexual Assault Lawyer Illinois
In 2007, Chicago bishop Raymond Goedert admitted in a deposition that he had known about accusations of child abuse by priests but never informed law enforcement. He provided the names of 25 such accused priests. Catholic officials and attorneys representing victims point out that he was following procedures that existed at the time, which did not require reporting accusations to law enforcement.
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One incident took place in 2018, after the Pennsylvania attorney general’s office released a shocking grand jury report containing 1500 pages of evidence showing the prevalence of child sexual abuse in six of the state’s dioceses. The news reverberated far beyond the Keystone State; 7 of the 301 priests identified had connections to Chicago. Following this revelation, the Illinois attorney general set up a meeting with the diocese.
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According to CNN, the AG said “I plan to reach out to the other dioceses in Illinois and have the same conversation and expect the bishops will agree and cooperate fully…If not, I will work with states' attorneys and law enforcement throughout Illinois to investigate."
The Chicago Archdiocese said it was looking forward to the meeting with Madigan.
"Since 2002, the Archdiocese of Chicago has reported all abuse allegations to the proper civil authorities." Like many dioceses, they have a list on their website of priests credibly accused of abuse.
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Although the Chicago diocese is the site of many tragic incident, the story also contained bright spots. Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, who died in 1996, was an influential figure there and one of the first officials to take action in the sexual abuse scandal. A New York Times obituary reported that “in response to the explosive scandals involving sexual abuse of minors by priests, he removed more than a score of priests and established a new review board, made up primarily of lay people.” Although many dioceses put review boards in place in 2002 and 2003, after a series of bombshell Boston Globe investigative pieces shed light on the scandal. However, few took any action before that. Barnardin’s actions show that it is possible for Catholic clergy to act decisively to protect children, without waiting for bad publicity and scandals to force their hand.
Church Sexual Assault Lawyer Illinois
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