CNA Staff, Sep 30, 2020 / 15:00 pm
Michigan attorney general Dana Nessel told local news this week that she plans to announce new charges against "a dozen or more" priests in the state, as part of a now two-year long investigation into abuse by Catholic clergy.
Nessel had most recently announced on Sept. 29 charges against a 78-year-old laicized priest of the Archdiocese of Detroit, Gary Berthiaume, who is accused of abusing a 14-year-old victim.
Nessel announced one count of second-degree criminal sexual conduct against Berthiaume, which could lead to a 15-year prison sentence if he's convicted, the Detroit News reported.
Spurred by the release of a grand jury report out of Pennsylvania in 2018, which documented hundreds of cases of clergy sex abuse that took place over several decades in almost every diocese in the state, Michigan's then-Attorney General Bill Schuette launched the state's own investigation in August that year.