After investigation into sexual abuse of minors, Missouri's attorney general refers 12 ex-clergy for prosecution

Sep. 13--A dozen former clergy members are being referred to possible criminal prosecution by Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt following the conclusion of an investigation into sexual abuse by Catholic priests against minors in the state.

Schmitt, a Republican, released a report Friday detailing the findings of the yearlong probe conducted by the Missouri's attorney general's office.

"For decades, faced with credible reports of abuse, the church refused to acknowledge the victims and instead focused their efforts on protecting priests," Schmitt, who's a Catholic, said in a press conference.

He said that the 12 cases being referred to prosecution represent "more referrals than any other state attorney general."

Investigators interviewed more than 100 victims and reviewed the records of more than 2,000 priests, as well as over 300 seminarians, deacons and religious women from all regions of the state.

The 185-page report looked into sexual abuse of minors by members of the four Roman Catholic dioceses in the state, which "has been a far-reaching, long-standing scandal," according to the attorney general's office.

The offenses varied from inappropriate conversations or correspondence with children to statutory rape as defined by Missouri statute.

Of the "credible allegations of 163 instances of sexual abuse or misconduct by Catholic diocesan priests and deacons against minors," listed in the report, 83 are deceased and 46 can't be prosecuted because of statute of limitations.

Additionally, the cases of 21 priests have already been referred to law enforcement for criminal investigation -- 15 of those have been filed in court, and six are either under investigation, or have been declined for prosecution -- and one case is still under diocesan review.

The remaining 12 priests will be "referred to the appropriate prosecutors' offices for consideration of criminal investigation and prosecution," the report read.

The Catholic Church Clergy Abuse Investigation Report came nearly a year after Schmitt's predecessor, the now-junior Republican senator for Missouri Josh Hawley, announced that his office would launch the investigation.

Shortly after the announcement, St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson said in a press conference that the attorney general's office would have "unfettered" access to archdiocese records, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported at the time.

While many victims were pleased with today's news, some were frustrated because they were not contacted.

Joe Eldred, one of the victims, told The Kansas City Star that "they're not really giving victims a voice."

Eldred, who is one of 30 plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the Kansas City-St. Joseph Diocese that was settled for $10 million in 2014, said that he felt "silenced again," and that some victims were "very, very angry."

___

(c)2019 New York Daily News

Visit New York Daily News at www.nydailynews.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.