More than 1,200 priests, Catholic brothers and Catholic school officials accused of sexual abuse were allowed to move on with their lives with little oversight or accountability, USA Today reports. The newspaper tracked down last known addresses for hundreds of former priests who have been publicly accused of sexual abuse and then sent dozens of reporters across the country to locate them, finding in some cases they’ve taken on leadership roles in new communities, becoming professors, counselors, friends and mentors to children. Their movements are unchecked by both the government and the Catholic Church.
Victim advocates warned that known abusers are likely to offend again. “Common sense would say pedophile priests would continue to abuse once they are defrocked,” said Mitchell Garabedian, a Boston-based attorney who has represented thousands of Catholic sex abuse victims across the world. “There is nothing to keep them from sexually abusing children – it is not as if a light switch turns off.” Marci Hamilton, who runs the Philadelphia-based think tank CHILD USA, a nonprofit working to end child abuse, said she wasn’t surprised that in many cases, former priests accused of child sexual abuse are living openly next to schools and day care centers. Hamilton said the church clearly knew the consequences of letting former priests move on quietly after abuses were reported but did so to shield the church and protect its image. “They cover it up, they run the statute of limitations and then they wash their hands of them,” Hamilton said of the Catholic Church. When asked if the church is under any obligation to keep track of accused priests, or to inform future employers of the accusations against them, a church spokeswoman said, “The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops does not maintain a list of accused priests, as we do not oversee the dioceses.”