4 Things To Know About Catholic Sex Abuse Scandals, PA Grand Jury Report
1. The Details of Abuse Described in the Report
The types of atrocities that were visited upon young children were described in extensive, horrifying detail in the grand jury report.
Among the stories the document recounts is that of a priest who forced a boy to perform oral sex on him and then subsequently rinsed his mouth out with holy water in order to cleanse him. Another priest raped a seven-year-old girl while visiting her in hospital after she had undergone surgery to remove her tonsils.
Reports say Edward Graff, a now-retired priest who spent 35 years in the Allentown diocese, reportedly raped "scores" of young boys, one of whom was 7 years old and was brutalized such that he suffered spine injuries.
Other priests in Pennsylvania had children wear gold crosses in order to indicate which of them had been abused. In yet another case, a priest in Scranton raped a girl, impregnated her and arranged for her to have an abortion. The bishop wrote not to the girl but the priest who raped her, telling him: "This is a very difficult time in your life, and I realize how upset you are. I too share your grief."
The Church also wrote a strong recommendation letter for another priest who quit after he had received several complaints about him being a child abuser to get another job at Walt Disney World.
