Catholic Church Reveals Drop in Sex Abuse Cases; Validity of Report Questioned

 

The Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, the ninth annual audit by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which deals specifically with sex abuse cases, found that the church spent $144 million in the past year to deal with such issues. A total of 489 people reported credible allegations of abuse against 406 priests or deacons, up from 2010 when such accusers numbered 428, while there were 346 offending priests.

Of the $144 million spent on settlement-related cases, $50 million went for settlements alone, $37 million was spent on attorneys' fees, $10 million was used to provide support for offenders, while $6 million was spent on therapy for abuse victims, who also benefited from the above mentioned settlement money.

Click on the following for more details:  Catholic Church Reveals Drop in Sex Abuse Cases; Validity of Report Questioned

 

Don’t forget to look at the actual report.  Click on the following:  http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/child-and-youth-protection/upload/2011-annual-report.pdf

 

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Page 35--2011 Victims are primarily male.and pre-teen or teenage

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Costs to Dioceses and Eparchies in 2011
Dioceses and eparchies that responded to the survey
and reported costs related to allegations paid
out $107,814,410 in 2011. This includes payments
in 2011 for allegations reported in previous years.
Thirty-four responding dioceses and eparchies
reported no expenditures in 2010 related to allegations
of sexual abuse of a minor. Table 2 compares
payments by dioceses and eparchies from 2004
through 2011 across several categories of allegationrelated
expenses. The total costs reported by dioceses
and eparchies in 2011 are $9,451,263 more than
those reported in 2010.
Almost half of the payments by dioceses and eparchies
in 2011 (46 percent) were for settlements to victims.
Attorneys’ fees constituted an additional third (34
percent) of the total cost ($36,737,366).1 Support for
offenders (including therapy, living expenses, legal
expenses, etc.) amounted to another 9 percent of
allegation-related costs ($9,862,110).2 An additional 5
percent of the total cost was for payments for therapy
for victims (if not already included in the settlement).