Roman Catholic Church In Brooklyn Diocese Involved In 27.5 Million Settlement With 4 Cases Of Sexual Abuse
Getty Images
loading...

Is anything holy or sacred anymore?

According to NBC News, Catholic Church leaders in Texas identified 286 priests and others Thursday (January 31st) who'd been accused of sexually abusing children, representing all the state's dioceses except Forth Worth, which had previously released its own information.

It’s not clear whether any of the names released could lead to prosecution; of the 286 men, 172 have died, and some of the allegations go as far back as 1950.

Marc Rylander spokesman for the Texas attorney general’s office said in a statement,

Our office stands ready to assist local law enforcement and any district attorney's office that asks for our help in dismantling this form of evil and removing the threat of those who threaten Texas children.  To date, we have not received any such requests, but we are ready to provide assistance to local prosecutors in accordance with state law and original criminal jurisdiction.

The release of the information from Texas comes after Pennsylvania released a report last August on the sexual abuse of children by more than 300 priests over seven decades, and following the Illinois attorney general reporting last month that at least 500 Catholic clergy in that state had sexually abused children.

 

More From Classic Rock Q107