Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell today released a report documenting the decades-long sexual abuse of approximately 1,000 children by 270 clerics within the dioceses of Fall River, Worcester, and Springfield.
General Campbell says the investigation began in 2019 and reviewed thousands of pages of records and interviewed more than 100 individuals.
The report shows that in the Fall River Diocese, 92 known members of the clergy have been accused of abuse against 469 known survivors.
The attorney general is recommending the dioceses do more to put survivors first and be more transparent in the reporting of sexual abuse allegations.
Fall River Bishop Edgar da Cunha released a statement responding to the report, saying;
” To all survivors of child sexual abuse, I am deeply sorry. We as a church failed you when you were most vulnerable. As a diocese, we are firmly resolved to continue to do all we can to help you heal, to make certain we are accountable, and to protect our children so that no other child suffers as you have.”
Video courtesy the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office
