Washington D.C., Mar 23, 2010 / 10:33 am
In compliance with the U.S. Bishops “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People,” the bishops' conference has just released its 2009 annual report. The results show a series of positive trends, including the fewest number of sex abuse investigations, offenders, and victims since 2004, as well as increased participation in Safe Environment training.
Data for the 2009 report was collected by the Georgetown University-based Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA), an organization which has been gathering information on the sexual abuse of minors for the bishops’ conference since 2004.
That data showed that there were 398 allegations and 286 offenders reported to dioceses across the country during 2009. Most of the reports of sexual abuse involved offenses that occurred in previous decades. Only six allegations in 2009 pertained to children under the age of 18, and an eighth of all allegations during the year were determined to be false accusations or unsubstantiated.
CARA reported that “for the majority of new allegations (71 percent) brought to dioceses, the abuse began between 1960 and 1984” and that “the most common time period for allegations reported in 2009 was 1975-1979.”