Houses of worship are important and holy places for many Americans to practice their faith and religious study. They are revered, venerated, and trusted with religious leaders being figures of spiritual and moral guidance. Unfortunately, they are also places where great harm has been done to the most innocent in our society – young children.
Churches can be a close-knit community and reporting abuse can be difficult, if not downright impossible. Many victims feel helpless to stop the abuse and great shame and isolation if the abuse is reported. Too often, victims suffer for years in silence with painful and horrific stories of abuse. Even when it is reported, cover-ups of sexual predators is too common and corrective action may never occur with offenders rarely being turn over to law enforcement.
Clergy Abuse in the Catholic Church
In 2002, it was revealed that Clergy sex abuse was widespread in the Catholic Church.
Since that time, thousands of victims have stepped forward to report the horrific abuse they suffered as children at the hands of priests, nuns, and other members of the Church.
It was also revealed that the Catholic Church knew the abuse was widespread and had been shown to deliberately move sexually abusive priests to other parishes instead of removing them from their positions. This appalling practice of condoning abuse allowed it to spread to new and more victims.
The 2004 John Jay Report, commissioned and funded by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and based on a study of 10,667 allegations against priests accused engaging in sexual abuse of a minor between 1950 and 2002, showed that 22.6 of the victims were age 10 or younger, 51% were between ages 11 and 14, and 27% were between the ages of 15 to 17 years.
Help For Victims
Clergy abuse occurs in many types of religious institutions. Whether it is a pastor, priest, minister, bishop, or other religious official, too many children are suffering great harm. Finally it is becoming safe for victims to step forward with their stories of abuse and seek rightful compensation for the countless moments of traumatic and injurious suffering and pain.
At Bishop Legal, we understand the difficulty victims of abuse face when accusing a member of the church of sexual abuse. We stand up for victims as they do not deserve to suffer in silence. By contacting our sexual abuse lawyers, you are not only taking a stand against the damage that has been caused, you are also helping prevent others from being similarly harmed.
Our knowledgeable and aggressive attorneys work diligently and have the know how to obtain the documentation needed to prove a case even if the abuse occurred decades ago.
Don’t wait until it’s too late to take action. Call our sexual abuse lawyers now to get the help and protection you need to defend your legal rights!
