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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, February 17, 2004

4,450 US priests accused of child sex abuse

Children accused more than 4,000 priests of sexual abuse between 1950 and 2002, according to a draft survey commissioned by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.


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Children accused more than 4,000 priests of sexual abuse between 1950 and 2002, according to a draft survey commissioned by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The survey, to be released February 27, found that children made more than 11,000 allegations of sexual abuse by priests. The 4,450 accused priests represent about 4 per cent of the 110,000 priests who served during the 52 years covered by the study, CNN reported.

The report is based on a nationwide survey of church records, and was compiled by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice for the conference. The bishops' conference commissioned the survey to get a better understanding of the scope of the crisis.

CNN reviewed a draft copy of the survey. Officials said it may be slightly changed before its release.

More than half of the accused priests had only one allegation against them. Nearly 25 per cent, or 1,112 priests, had two or three allegations, and almost 13 per cent, or 578 priests, had four to nine allegations, according to the draft report. Nearly 3 per cent, or 133 of the priests, had 10 or more allegations.

The report said that 6,700 of the 11,000 allegations were investigated and substantiated, and another 1,000 were unsubstantiated. The remaining 3,300 were not investigated because the priests involved had died by the time the allegation was made.

The president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a written statement calling the reports "a very sobering and important milestone."

According to the survey, 78 per cent of those abused were between 11 and 17, 16 per cent were 8 to 10, and nearly 6 per cent were 7 or younger.

The survey also said that several factors contributed to the problem, including failure to grasp its gravity, overemphasis on the avoidance of scandal, use of unqualified treatment centers, misguided willingness to forgive and insufficient accountability.

More than 44,000 priests serve in the United States, according to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Source: CD/Agencies


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