State Roundup: AG’s Catholic Church report details horrendous sex abuse, inaction over 80 years; General Assembly sends bill to allow all survivors to sue abusers to Gov. Moore

State Roundup:  AG’s Catholic Church report details horrendous sex abuse, inaction over 80 years; General Assembly sends bill to allow all survivors to sue abusers to Gov. Moore

A judge has set a May 31 deadline for survivors of church abuse to file claims. [Photo: Entrance illuminated at night, Baltimore Basilica of the Assumption (1806-1863; Benjamin Henry Latrobe, architect) by Baltimore Heritage is marked with CC0 1.0.]

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HORRENDOUS ACTIONS, INACTIONS DETAILED IN CHURCH SEX ABUSE REPORT: A four-year investigation of Baltimore’s Catholic archdiocese reveals the scope of 80 years of child sex abuse and torture and how church officials often covered it up and, in some cases, paved the way for further abuse. Lee O. Sanderlin and Jonathan Pitts/The Baltimore Sun.

  • Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown (D) released the report Wednesday detailing decades of alleged sex abuse by clergy within the Archdiocese of Baltimore. The investigation found that over 600 young people — from preschoolers to young adults — suffered sexual abuse and “physical torture” by more than 150 clergy members from the mid-1940s to 2002. Michelle Boorstein and Fredrick Kunkle/The Washington Post.
  • For more than 80 years, the Archdiocese of Baltimore concealed pervasive sexual abuse of hundreds of children. Church officials convinced prosecutors not to charge priests with crimes. They transferred priests multiple times rather than acknowledge their abuse to parishes and schools. They ignored abusive priests who confessed they struggled with pedophilia. They gave more weight to the denial of the abusers than to the allegations of their victims. Liz Bowie and Dylan Segelbaum/The Baltimore Banner.
  • Threats with guns, rapes over and again, torture with ropes, chains, handcuffs, paddles and hot wax. Touching, grabbing, groping. God’s name was invoked, victims were blamed, complaints were ignored, childhoods were stolen, all trust was shattered. In the end, few, if any, in the archdiocesan hierarchy seemed to escape without complicity, turning out predators to act again, moving offenders from parish to parish. Josh Kurtz/Maryland Matters.

10 INSTANCES OF COMPLICITY TO COVER UP: One theme coursing though the historic report documenting decades of child sexual abuse within the Archdiocese of Baltimore is cover-up. Plenty of church officials did it, but so did members of law enforcement, state investigators found. Here are 10 instances of coverup, the last one including a newspaperman. Jessica Calefati/The Baltimore Banner.

EXPERTS: HOW SURVIVORS CAN READ THE REPORT: Reading the long-awaited report detailing 80 years of child sexual abuse throughout the Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore, as well as the impending news cycle, can bring mixed, complex feelings to victims reliving their trauma. But with preparation, the catharsis can outweigh the pain, victims’ advocates and survivors say. Dan Belson/The Baltimore Sun.

READ THE REPORT: You can read the full 456 page report here. Scroll down in the text to find the report. John O’Connor/The Baltimore Banner.

OFFICIALS HOPE TO RESTORE REPORT’s REDACTIONS: Shortly before the release of Wednesday’s explosive report, Attorney General Anthony Brown met with survivors who’d been abused as children by Archdiocese of Baltimore personnel decades ago. Survivors were also handed a packet of pages extracted from the full report. Officials explained why some names were redacted, and said they ultimately hoped to have a report come out with fewer redactions or none at all. Cadence Quaranta and Penelope Blackwell/The Baltimore Banner.

WASHINGTON, WILMINGTON ARCHDIOCESES ALSO BEING PROBED: Moments before releasing the grand jury report detailing decades of sexual abuse and cover-ups within the Archdiocese of Baltimore, Attorney General Anthony Brown said on Wednesday that his office has also been investigating the Archdiocese of Washington and Diocese of Wilmington. Those two archdioceses cover 14 counties in Maryland. Dylan Segelbaum/The Baltimore Banner.

MOORE GETS BILL TO ALLOW ALL SURVIVORS TO SUE SEXUAL ABUSERS: Within an hour of Wednesday’s release of an attorney general’s investigation into abuse at the hands of priests in Baltimore’s Catholic archdiocese, the Maryland General Assembly sent a bill to Gov. Wes Moore’s desk to allow more survivors to sue people who sexually abused them. Hannah Gaskill and Sam Janesch/The Baltimore Sun.

***BOARD OPENINGS FOR MONTGOMERY AND PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY RESIDENTS: The Employees’ Retirement System (ERS) of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission has openings for residents of Montgomery and Prince George’s counties on the ERS Board of Trustees; one vacancy for each county. The term of appointment is July 1, 2023 – June 30, 2026. Anyone interested who is a resident of the county to which they want to represent must submit a Letter of Interest and resume of qualifications, received no later than close of business on April 7, 2023. Visit our website, https://www.mncppc.org/1644/Employees-Retirement-System, for a Board of Trustee Candidate Packet.***

BILL TO LIMIT GAMING FIRM-UNIVERSITY AGREEMENTS CRITICIZED: A week after the University of Colorado ended a controversial deal with a sports-betting sponsor, Maryland legislators are on the brink of passing legislation to limit agreements between universities and gambling companies. But some say the legislation doesn’t go far enough in that it would not stop the companies from marketing to students and does not fully address the need for transparency. Michael Charles of Capital News Service/Maryland Reporter.

FEDERAL BANKING RULES MAKE FUNDING CANNABIS INDUSTRY TRICKY: With less than a week left in Maryland’s legislative session, most elements of Maryland’s plan to create a legal market for cannabis have been decided. But how to bank potential billions of dollars generated by the industry is still a thorny question in light of federal banking regulations that treat cannabis dollars as illegal drug money. Greg Morton of CNS/Maryland Reporter.

BILL TO ALLOW UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS TO BUY HEALTH INSURANCE DIES: Legislation that immigrants’ rights activists have been agitating for over the past few days, to allow undocumented immigrants to buy health insurance coverage through the state’s Health Benefits Exchange, appears to be dead in the waning days of the General Assembly session. Josh Kurtz/Maryland Matters.

MD SUPREME COURT GIVES TEACHER OK TO SERVE ON HARFORD COUNCIL: The Supreme Court of Maryland ruled Wednesday that Harford County Council member Jacob Bennett may continue to serve on the council while he’s employed as a Harford County Public Schools teacher. “I’m just glad to finally be able to go back to doing what I was elected to do,” Bennett said, “which is serve my community.” Jason Fontelieu/The Aegis.

  • Bennett said he heard from Harford County Executive Bob Cassilly, who sought to disqualify him and physically locked him out of his council office. The first-term executive promised to quickly get the councilman on the county payroll, Bennett said. Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.

About The Author

Cynthia Prairie

cynthiaprairie@gmail.com
https://www.chestertelegraph.org/

Contributing Editor Cynthia Prairie has been a newspaper editor since 1979, when she began working at The Raleigh Times. Since then, she has worked for The Baltimore News American, The Chicago Sun-Times, The Prince George’s Journal and Baltimore County newspapers in the Patuxent Publishing chain, including overseeing The Jeffersonian when it was a two-day a week business publication. Cynthia has won numerous state awards, including the Maryland State Bar Association’s Gavel Award. Besides compiling and editing the daily State Roundup, she runs her own online newspaper, The Chester Telegraph. If you have additional questions or comments contact Cynthia at: cynthiaprairie@gmail.com

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