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California's 12 dioceses subpoenaed by state attorney general in child sex abuse case

Sacramento Bee - 12/10/2019

Dec. 10--The Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento, along with the other 11 dioceses in California, will be subpoenaed for additional records as the state attorney general continues to investigate whether dioceses complied with mandatory reporting requirements.

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced in May he would investigate all of California's Roman Catholic dioceses to ensure that church officials followed state law and reported sexual misconduct allegations to law enforcement.

The announcement of that investigation came after Becerra's office began requesting that victims of clergy sex abuse submit complaints to his office last year.

The Sacramento diocese, along with five other dioceses, began voluntarily turning over records to the state agency in May, according to Bishop Jaime Soto in a statement Friday.

"We share the attorney general's desire to conduct a thorough examination of the practices and procedures that seek to protect the children entrusted to our schools, churches and programs," Soto stated.

Last week, the attorney general's office told the Sacramento diocese that it would issue subpoenas for additional records, according to Soto.

"An abundance of time and resources has already been dedicated to this high-priority undertaking and we will continue to do so until the process comes to completion and accomplishes its goal," read a statement from the Diocese of Fresno, which has also been voluntarily cooperating with the state Department of Justice.

Fresno Diocese Bishop Joseph Brennan said in a statement that the diocese has provided a "high volume production of material relevant to our policies and procedures" in recent months.

It's unclear how complaints from abuse victims or mandatory reporting-related records will be used by the attorney general's office, but it could ultimately announce the formation of a grand jury. Such an investigation, like one that took place in Pennsylvania last year, would provide a sweeping account of clergy abuse and misconduct.

The attorney general's office told The Sacramento Bee in an email "to protect its integrity, we don't comment on potential or ongoing investigations."

Under California law, all priests, teachers and staff in contact with children are mandated reporters, meaning they must tell local law enforcement about possible abuse. But victims of clergy abuse and advocates have long stated that church officials helped cover up sexual misconduct for decades.

The Sacramento diocese released records earlier this year revealing more than 40 priests were credibly accused of sexually abusing roughly 130 victims in the last 70 years.

"Our diocese is committed to a full accounting of the past sins of clergy sexual abuse, and to doing all we can to ensure it never happens again," Soto said in his statement.

California's 12 dioceses represent the nation's largest bloc of Catholics -- an estimated 10 million worshipers. The Diocese of Sacramento alone serves about 1.3 million parishioners, stretching from Sacramento to the Oregon border.

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