Child Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church

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In over a period of years, an increasing amount of attention has been shed to the problem of child sexual abuse in the church. While churches, and other facilities which care for children, have had their experience of this problem, most attention has been brought to the abuse in the Catholic Church. Around the world, case after case has been seen in the press of clergy and members of religious orders being charged with sex offenses against children. Some of these cases go back decades. The issue has certainly brought attention around the world. The reason why, is the question that ponders in everyone mind.

The John Jay College of Criminal Justice found that 4% of all priests who had served in the US from 1950 to 2002 had allegations of child sexual abuse made against them (John Jay College, 2004; Terry, 2008). Most victims were male and older in age compared to victims in the general population (Terry and Ackerman, 2008).The John Jay College study of child sexual abuse in the US Catholic Church found that 81% of the victims of abuse were male. Richard Sipe, a leading expert on sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, reported that of the priests with a tendency to abuse young children, about three-quarters had a preference for abusing boys. The gender preference was more equal among the group of priests who targeted adolescents (Sipe, 1995: 27). Rossetti, (1995) reported on the results of a questionnaire that was sent to more than 7000 adults. Of the 25% that responded, most of the people who completed the questionnaire were either priests, nuns or actively involved in the Catholic Church. 3.3% of the men said that they had been sexually abused by a priest before the age of 18, and 1.7% of the women reported being a...

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... the United States, 1950-2010. Washington, DC: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

Rossetti, S. & Lothstein, L. (1990). Myths of the Child Molester. In S Rossetti (ed), Slayer of the Soul (Twenty-Third Publications, Mystic, Conn.).

Rossetti, S, (1995). The Impact of Child Sexual Abuse on Attitudes Toward God and the Catholic

Church. Child Abuse and Neglect 19, 1469-1481.

Sipe, R. (1995). Sex, Priests and Power (Cassell, London).

Terry, K., & Ackerman, A. (2008). Child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church: How situational crime prevention strategies can help create safe environments. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 35, 643-657.

Towards Understanding, (1999). Towards Understanding: A study of factors specific to the Catholic Church which might lead to sexual abuse by priests and religious (National Committee for Professional Standards, Sydney).

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