Raoul releases report naming 451 Illinois Catholic leaders who sexually abused nearly 2,000 children since 1950

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — The Illinois Attorney General's Office has found that more than 450 clerics and religious brothers abused nearly 2,000 children in Illinois since 1950.

The new report released Tuesday by Attorney General Kwame Raoul is a stark contrast from 2018 when the Catholic Dioceses of Illinois only listed 103 substantiated child sex abusers across the state.

"We the public and many families put faith in the Catholic church and its leaders in ways that we do not trust other establishments," Raoul said.

The Attorney General told reporters in Chicago that the call for accountability should be resounding when that trust is betrayed with abuse to children and there are efforts to cover it up. Raoul's office found 34 abusive clerics and religious brothers in the Springfield Diocese, with the highest number of abusive priests working during the early 1980s.

"It is my sincere hope that this report will shine light on those who violated their positions of power and trust to abuse innocent children and on the men in church leadership who covered up that abuse," Raoul said.

In a statement Tuesday, Bishop Thomas Paprocki said he cannot undo damages of the past. However, the Springfield Diocese leaders stressed that he has been and will continue to be fully committed to ensuring the diocese does everything it can to prevent abuse from happening again. Paprocki also said he is not aware of a single incident of sexual abuse of a minor by clergy in the Springfield Diocese in nearly 20 years. Paprocki said the Diocese credits the Attorney General's office for bringing about greater transparency and keeping the spotlight on this issue to guard against any future threat of abuse.

"We stand with the other five dioceses in Illinois in the commitments to accountability, transparency, reform, and sustained vigilance," Paprocki stated. "Like the other five dioceses, we report allegations to civil authorities and encourage victim survivors to do the same, and we have a victim assistance ministry and special offices to handle childhood sexual abuse allegations."

Raoul's office criticized Paprocki and the Springfield Diocese for lacking transparency about their list of church leaders who sexually abused children, including the fact that the information on the Diocese website does not include their parish assignments.

"Our investigation would span and did span information available across the country so we could in fact identify religious order clerics or brothers who ministered in Illinois and abused and then approached the diocese about them," explained Assistant Chief Deputy Attorney General Thomas Verticchio.

The Attorney General specifically stated in the report that the Diocese of Springfield "has yet to reconcile itself with its past." Raoul said the Diocese must commit to transparency and survivors healing through deeds, listening to survivors and their pleas for trauma-informed responses.

"Decades of Catholic leadership, decisions, and policies have allowed known child sex abusers to hide, often in plain sight," Raoul added.

Raoul said many survivors of child sex abuse will never see justice in court because the statute of limitations has frequently expired.

The Attorney General concluded that the Springfield Diocese must also openly acknowledge that turning its back for half a century on the needs of children suffering sex abuse at the hands of its clerics was in no way "virtuous." 

"Cooperation from the dioceses aside, it was the survivors of child sex abuse who gave purpose and drive to this investigation," Raoul said. "Absent their courage and willingness to come forward and discuss their experience, there would be no true investigative report."

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, said it is apparent that the policies and procedures the Illinois dioceses have in place to protect children from abuse are weak, vague, and rarely followed. SNAP Communications Manager Mike McDonnell stated that numbers reported by the Attorney General's office are staggering, and, unfortunately, likely an under-count. 

"For many survivors, secular investigations like this will open an area for new conversations, healing among fellow victims, and assisting communities to comprehend the horrors of their past and the risk of their present," McDonnell said. "When the legal system fails to provide victims with justice, statewide investigations can assist citizens and survivors in communicating essential facts about the global scourge of child sexual abuse."

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