The Roman Catholic Church has released about 5,300 names of credibly accused priests to the public over the last few years. Unfortunately, these lists may have left off hundreds of names, reports The Associated Press.

The AP reports it looked into a database of accused priests, compared it with the public diocesan lists, and searched through media accounts, grand jury reports, lawsuits, and more. The investigation reportedly identified more than 900 clergy members with credible accusations against them that were not included on lists of accused priests issued by the Catholic Church.

More than a hundred of these former members of the clergy had been charged with sexual crimes like rape or the solicitation or viewing of child pornography.

For instance, a former Catholic priest who served time for the possession of child pornography, admitted to masturbating near a church school, and violated his probation due to having contact with children was not initially included on an abusive priest list. The former priest, Richard J. Poster, was even put on a sex offender registry in 2005, but his name was left off a list of accused priests published by the Davenport, Iowa diocese in 2008.

Poster’s name was finally added to the list in December, after the AP specifically asked why he had not yet been included.

Different dioceses have given different reasons for leaving certain names off of the lists they’ve made public. For instance, some dioceses may have left out entire categories of clergy members, such as deceased priests that had only one allegation against them or clergy members that were kicked out prior to actually being ordained.

According to the Davenport diocese, Poster’s name was left out of that list because at the time, possession of child pornography did not qualify under the Church’s child abuse charter due to the lack of a direct victim. Since then, the Church has added child pornography to its charter. However, Poster was still not added to the abusive priest list until the tail end of 2019.

Catholic Sex Abuse Scandal Continues to Unfold

In recent years, the Catholic sexual abuse scandal has been gaining more notice as more victims come forward alleging abuse, and more names of abusers are released.

In August 2019, a Pennsylvania grand jury report was published about the widespread abuse against children by Catholic priests and leaders. More than 300 priests’ names were included on that abusive priest list, and more than 1,000 childhood victims were identified.

According to Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, he had to fight church leaders in the state to release the grand jury report that made so many waves back in 2018, by naming more than 300 credibly accused priests.

“You can’t put much stock in the lists that the church voluntarily provides because they cannot be trusted to police themselves,” Shapiro told the Associated Press.

In the wake of that grand jury report, more and more lawsuits have been filed over Catholic sexual abuse in states all across the country. New York, New Jersey and other states have passed new laws to help victims of childhood sexual abuse and assault come forward with their claims, often giving them more time to file. Many victims have been able to pursue compensation, either through a settlement agreement or through litigation.

If you are a victim of Catholic sexual abuse—even if that abuse occurred years or decades ago—you may be able to file a lawsuit and receive compensation.

This article is not legal advice. It is presented
for informational purposes only.