Philadelphia, USA - A grand jury documented assaults on children by more than 50 Philadelphia-area priests and harshly criticized Roman Catholic Church leaders for shielding abusers, but brought no criminal charges, a newspaper reported Wednesday.
The decision reflected legal and factual hurdles facing prosecutors, including the expiration of the statute of limitations in virtually every case, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
The report, drafted by prosecutors in District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham's office, is expected to be made public next month. People named in the report will have until Aug. 31 to write a rebuttal.
A spokeswoman for Abraham would not comment Tuesday, citing grand jury secrecy. Nor would an attorney for the Philadelphia Archdiocese, C. Clark Hodgson Jr.
The report said archdiocese officials often made only a cursory inquiry into complaints by children or parents. It said church officials did not contact police and rarely, if ever, advised victims to do so.
Marie Whitehead, director of the Philadelphia chapter of Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests, said that she was disappointed the report did not call for charges, but that she was convinced prosecutors had worked to get to the bottom of the scandal and had been stymied by legal hurdles.
"This has been played out across the U.S. Their feet are not being held to the fire," Whitehead said. But she said, "Just having the truth out there is a huge, huge step."
Abraham convened the grand jury investigation in April 2002 amid a nationwide scandal following the disclosure of widespread abuse in the Catholic Church in Boston. In the Philadelphia area, church officials have said more than 40 priests had been credibly accused of sexual assaults over the past half-century.