Missouri attorney general to investigate clergy sexual abuse cases

Amid pressure from survivors of clergy sexual abuse, Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley said Thursday his office will investigate statewide cases of alleged sexual abuse by Catholic clergy.

The Archdiocese of St. Louis has pledged to cooperate fully, Hawley said in a statement.

The move follows a highly publicized grand jury investigation last week of six Catholic dioceses in Pennsylvania that found church officials had concealed the activity of more than 300 "predator priests" credibly accused of sexually abusing more than 1,000 child victims over several decades.

In a protest outside Hawley's office on Wednesday, a victim, a woman whose son killed himself after being abused as a teenager, and an attorney for other abuse victims urged a statewide investigation similar to the one in Pennsylvania.

David Clohessy, 61, of St. Louis, a longtime victims’ rights advocate who was abused as a child, said more than 170 priests in Missouri have been accused in recent decades. But he said few have been convicted. He blamed prosecutors who aren’t “assertive or creative enough in exposing and pursuing these wrongdoers.”

Hawley said that while local law enforcement has the authority to prosecute and pursue such cases in Missoujri, his office would still investigate alleged crimes, publish a public report and refer credible cases to local prosecutors.

"While my office does not have jurisdiction at the present time to prosecute any criminal acts of this nature, or again to issue subpoenas to investigate it, it would be possible to conduct a thorough and robust investigation of potential clergy abuse if the various diocese were willing to cooperate," Hawley told reporters.

While Hawley's probe will be statewide, he said Archbishop Robert Carlson has offered full cooperation to review past allegations of sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of St. Louis.

Carlson promised the church's full cooperation to investigate its handling of what he has called the "scourge of clergy sexual abuse" in the past few decades.

Carlson said that under his leadership the archdiocese "has always taken the protection of children and youth as one of our highest priorities."

The archbishop's appeal to Hawley comes a week after the church officials issued a public statement noting that a former member of the FBI last fall had reviewed the archdiocese's child protection and Review Board policies and found the protocols to be "thorough and comprehensive."

Hawley, in a letter welcoming the archbishop's invitation, said he expected that his office would review documents and interview potential victims and witnesses to acts of alleged abuse.

He said the archdiocese's cooperation "will be essential to permitting a full, fair, and comprehensive investigation."

In Springfield, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau said it plans to launch an independent inquiry going back more than five decades in the wake of reported abuse by priests elsewhere in the U.S.

Leslie Eidson, director of communication for the Springfield-Cape Girardeau diocese, said the inquiry was being launched at the direction of Bishop Edward Rice, whom Pope Francis picked to lead local Catholics in April 2016.

A formal canonical decree asking for the independent examination of all personnel files as well as an open letter from Rice to congregants to be read at all Masses this weekend were in the works, Eidson said.

From 1973 to 1983, the leader of the Springfield diocese was Cardinal Bernard Law, who is remembered for his time as archbishop of Boston, where he and other officials shuffled priests from church to church even as reports of clergy sex abuse mounted.

Doug Stanglin reports from McLean, Va,; Will Schmitt reports for the Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader.

Contributing: The Associated Press