More than 150 priests accused of pedophile acts on 600 children

More than 150 members of the Catholic clergy are accused of “horrible and repeated” pedophile acts on at least 600 children, from 1940 to 2002 in Maryland, US justice revealed on Wednesday, denouncing the “complicity” of the Church.

These archdiocesan priests and staff “carried out repeated horrific acts on the most vulnerable children in their community, while the leaders of the archdiocese turned a blind eye”, according to a report by the prosecutor of this Northeastern State.

This document concerns the archdiocese of Baltimore, very close to the capital Washington and is the result of an investigation opened in 2018, as in many other states, following a shock investigation in Pennsylvania.

Some 156 members of the Church are identified there, suspected of pedophile acts on more than 600 children.

“But the real number of their victims is undoubtedly much higher”, note the authorities, who recall that only a small proportion of rapes are reported.

They insist on the “complicity” of the ecclesiastical hierarchy, which “refused to take into account the allegations of sexual violence against children”.