The Maryland Prosecutor's Office publishes the report of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church: 156 religious accused and 600 victims

By Lea Skene and Brian Witte -

The Maryland Attorney General's Office released a partially redacted version of the court report Wednesday detailing sexual abuse allegations against more than 150 Catholic clergy and the Archdiocese of Baltimore's response.

"We learned that the irrefutable story uncovered by this investigation is one of widespread, pernicious and persistent abuse by priests and other Archdiocese personnel," Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown said during a news conference, "is a history of repeated cover-up of these abuses by the Catholic Church”.

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Brown revealed the report and met with a group of victims earlier to present the findings and thank them for coming forward.

This Wednesday the state legislature also approved a bill, sent to the governor, to end the statute of limitations on civil lawsuits related to abuse.

This is an advance in the legal battle over the publication of the investigation and adds to the evidence on how parishes across the country proceed in these cases, adding to other similar revelations that have shaken the Church in recent years.

Brian Frosh, Brown's predecessor, launched the investigation in 2019, which ended last November, and said they reviewed more than 100,000 pages of documents dating back to the 1940s and interviewed hundreds of victims and witnesses.