Dallas, USA - A grand jury found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing in the way the Roman Catholic Diocese of Dallas handled allegations of sexual abuse by priests.
The grand jury was impaneled to help determine whether Bishop Charles Grahmann and his staff had received allegations of abuse by clergy that were not reported to police.
The Dallas County District Attorney's Office said Monday that the panel found no evidence of wrongdoing but declined to elaborate.
A telephone message left with the diocese was not immediately returned, but Grahmann told the diocesan newspaper's Web site that he was pleased the church had been cleared.
Prosecutors launched the investigation in February after becoming suspicious of a written claim by the diocese in 2002 that nobody in the ministry had violated laws relating to minors.
That same month, a pastor who was accused in the early 1990s of sexually harassing boys in Dallas and Plano resigned. Those who accused the pastor said they never saw any indication that the diocese investigated the allegations or reported them to authorities.