At least 1,997 minors were sexually abused by 451 clergy and religious leaders in the US Diocese of Illinois, according to a new report released Wednesday by state Attorney General Kwame Raoul.
According to the nearly 700-page document, the abuses were committed by clergy and other members of the Catholic Diocese of Illinois, which includes Belleville, Chicago, Joliet, Peoria, Rockford and Springfield.
The report adds 149 names to the list of sexual abusers of minors that the dioceses themselves had publicly identified before or during the investigation, bringing those identified to 451 and multiplying by four the number provided by the church before 2018, when the investigations began.
The new names were provided by victims who told investigators about the abuse, who also interviewed religious leaders and reviewed more than 100,000 pages of documents held by the diocese. Of the 451 suspected attackers named in the report, 330 have been killed, according to Kwame Raoul.
“These abusers may never be held accountable in court, but by naming them here, the intent is to offer public accountability and a measure of healing for survivors who have suffered in silence for too long,” the attorney general said.
Among the documented cases is that of Father Thomas Francis Kelly, who abused more than 15 boys between the ages of 11 and 17 in various parishes in the 1960s and 1970s.
One of the testimonies is that of Joe, who was 11 years old when Kelly abused him, and explains in the report that the priest invited him to see a movie and spend the night at the rectory, where he offered him beer.
Joe woke up in the middle of the night to find Father Kelly giving him oral sex. Other victims of Kelly’s abuse, who passed away in 1990, also share their experiences in the document.
The report also contains 50 pages of recommendations to dioceses to be transparent and report abuses that may occur.
Source: TSF
