ST. LOUIS (AP) — Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt on Friday will release details of a lengthy investigation into sex crimes involving Roman Catholic clergy.

A news conference is scheduled for 10 a.m. in St. Louis.

Schmitt's predecessor, Josh Hawley, began the investigation in August 2018. Hawley was elected to the U.S. Senate in November and Schmitt was appointed as his replacement.

In recent months, the Archdiocese of St. Louis, the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, the Diocese of Jefferson City and the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau have all issued their own findings of abuse investigations.

The investigations followed the release of a report in Pennsylvania last year that cited the abuse of more than 1,000 children by hundreds of priests since the 1940s and the efforts of church leaders to cover it up.