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1 THE NATURE AND SCOPE OF SEXUAL ABUSE OF MINORS BY CATHOLIC PRIESTS AND DEACONS IN THE UNITED STATES 195O-2OO2A research STUDY CONDUCTED BY THE JOHN JAY COLLEGE OF CRIMINAL JUSTICETHE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK FEBRUARY 2OO4 FOR THE UNITED STATES CONFERENCE OF CATHOLIC BISHOPSW ashington, June 2002 the full body of Catholic bishops of the United States in their General Meeting in Dallasapproved the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People. The Charter created a NationalReview Board, which was assigned responsibility to commission a descriptive study, with the full coop-eration of the dioceses/eparchies, of the nature and scope of the problem of sexual abuse of minors byclergy. The National Review Board engaged John Jay College of Criminal Justice of The City Universityof New York to conduct research , summarize the collected data, and issue a summar y report to theUnited States Conference of Catholic Bishops of its findings.

2 This r eport by the John Jay College isauthorized for publication by the undersigned. Msgr. William P. FayGeneral SecretaryUSCCBF irst Printing, June 2004 ISBN 1-57455-627-4 Copyright 2004, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Washington, All rights part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic ormechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,without permission in writing from the copyright holder. PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .. 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.. 3 PART ONE: The mandate for the Introduction .. Methodology: How the study was carried out .. Study terminology .. 20 PART TWO: Prevalence of abuse of youths under 18 by Catholic priests and Estimation of prevalence of sexual abuse of youths under 18 in the United States .. Summary results: Prevalence of sexual abuse of youths under 18 by Catholic priests and deacons Detailed data on prevalence of sexual abuse of youths under 18 by Catholic priests.

3 28 PART THREE: The priests and deacons accused of sexual Introduction .. Summary results: Priests and deacons who have allegations of sexual abuse .. Demographic characteristics of priests and deacons accused of sexual abuse of youths under 18 . Priests with behavioral problems .. Priests and deacons and the allegations .. Serial abusers: Priests with multiple allegations.. Criminal prosecutions and penalties .. 59 PART FOUR: Incidents and allegations of child sexual Introduction .. Summary results: Characteristics of the incidents of alleged sexual abuse by priests .. Characteristics of children who alleged sexual abuse by Catholic priests .. Characteristics of acts of sexual abuse by Catholic priests .. Circumstances of the abuse allegations .. 78 PART FIVE: The response from the dioceses and religious Introduction .. Reporting of allegations of sexual abuse.

4 Responses to child sex abuse allegations by dioceses and r eligious communities .. Sex offender treatment .. 99 PART SIX: Costs to dioceses and religious Total costs .. Questions .. Diocesan Profile .. Religious Order Profile .. Cleric Survey .. Victim Survey .. Written Instructions.. 140 TABLE OF CONTENTS research Participation Statement .. DHHS Letter .. Regions.. 150 LITERATURE REVIEW PART I LITERATURE REVIEW .. 153 ESTIMATES OF CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE .. 154 Overview .. 154 Criminal Justice and Social Service Data .. 154 research Estimates .. 156 Reporting Child Sexual Abuse .. 157 Victim s Relationship to the Perpetrator .. 158 Severity of Sexual Abuse .. 158 Developmental and Cognitive Variables .. 159 Fear of Negative Consequences .. 159 Gender Differences .. 159 Child Sexual Abuse within Specific Organizations.. 159 Boy Scouts .. 159 Big Brother .. 160 Young Men s Christian Association (YMCA).

5 160 Athletic Organizations.. 161 Child Caregivers.. 161 The Catholic Church.. 161 THEORIES AND ETIOLOGY OF CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE .. 163 Biological Theory .. 163 Psychodynamic Theory.. 164 Behavioral Theory .. 164 Attachment Theory .. 165 Cognitive-Behavioral Theory.. 165 Integrated Theory .. 168 Theories of Offending by Catholic Priests .. 169 The Offense Cycle .. 171 Grooming .. 172 TYPOLOGIES OF CHILD SEXUAL ABUSERS .. 174 The Fixated/Regressed Typology .. 174 The FBI Typology .. 177 The MTC:CM3 Typology .. 178 Other Typologies.. 179 Characteristics of Child Sexual Abusers in the Catholic Church .. 180 EVALUATION OF SEX OFFENDERS .. 182 MODELS OF TREATMENT FOR SEXUAL OFFENDERS WHO ABUSE CHILDREN .. 185 Overview .. 185 Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment and Relapse Prevention .. 185 Deviant Sexual Behavior and Interests.. 186 Social Skills Deficits .. 186 Cognitive Distortions.. 186 The Relapse Prevention Process.

6 187 Treatment Efficacy Studies .. 188 Pharmacological Treatments.. 188 Sex Offender Treatment for Priests.. 189 VICTIMS OF CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE BY PRIESTS .. 190 BIBLIOGRAPHY .. 191 PART II ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY .. 207 ESTIMATING THE PREVALENCE OF CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE.. 208 National Statistics .. 208 Statewide Statistics .. 208 ESTIMATES OF ABUSE WITHIN SPECIFIC SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS.. 216 Catholic Church .. 216 Other Religious Organizations .. 217 Boy Scouts of America .. 218 Big Brother Organization .. 219 Young Men s Christian Association (YMCA) .. 219 Athletic Organizations.. 219 Child Caregivers .. 220 THEORIES OF SEXUAL OFFENDING.. 221 General Theories.. 221 Theories of Offending by Clergy.. 222 TYPOLOGIES OF THE SEXUAL OFFENDER .. 228 Typologies of Offenders Who Abuse Children .. 228 Characteristics of Clergy Offenders .. 234 THE EVALUATION OF SEXUAL OFFENDERS .. 239 Risk Factors .. 239 Evaluative Paradigms.

7 240 Evaluative Instruments .. 241 Abel Screening Tool .. 242 Sex Offender Need Assessment Rating.. 243 Static-99 .. 243 Violence Risk Appraisal Guide.. 243 Evaluating Cleric Sexual Offenders .. 244 MODELS OF TREATMENT FOR OFFENDERS WHO ABUSE CHILDREN .. 246 Overview of Sex Offender Treatment Programs .. 246 Cognitive Behavioral Therapy & Relapse Prevention.. 251 Holistic Therapy .. 256 Pharmacological Interventions .. 256 Cleric Sex Offenders and Treatment.. 258 ASSESSMENT OF SEX OFFENDER TREATMENT .. 263 General Recidivism Rates.. 263 Overview of Treatment Outcomes.. 263 Cleric Offenders and Treatment Outcomes .. 272 INSTITUTIONAL RESPONSES TO SEXUAL ABUSE BY CLERICS .. 273 Overview .. 273 Avenues of Legal Redress for Victims .. 275 Historical Church Responses .. 276 Testimony of Victims .. 281 LITERATURE REVIEW: CHARTS, FIGURES AND TABLESF igure1: Child sexual abuse rates 1992-2001 .. 154 Figure 2: Percent of child abuse victims 1992-2001.

8 155 Figure 3: The fixated/regressed typology continuum .. 175 Table 1: Summary of theories on child sexual abuse.. 170 Table 2: Characteristics of fixated and regressed child sexual abusers .. 176 Table 3: FBI typologies of child sexual abusers.. 177 Table 4: The MTC: CM3 classification of child sexual abusers .. 179 1 PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSJohn Jay College of Criminal Justice was honor ed to have been asked by the United States Confer ence of Catholic Bishops to undertake the critically important task of obtaining a comprehensive description ofsexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests. From the beginning, the College well understood its pr o-found responsibility: to describe the dimensions of the abuse pr oblem as accurately and completely aspossible, to be scrupulously objective in carrying out the study, and to report the facts in an honest, for th-right manner. The gravity of the assignment entrusted to the College cannot be over advised the College to reject the request to do the study: it was too contr oversial; it was too compli-cated; it could expose the College to lawsuits; and it could engender negative publicity.

9 After listeningcarefully to this counsel, I came to the conclusion that despite the pr oblems which might arise, the Collegehad a civic obligation to use its r esources and academic talent to help provide facts about the sexualabuse phenomenon which has been such a sad chapter in the histor y of the Catholic Church. Because itis a significant part of the College s stated mission to engage in research dealing with public safety, Ibecame convinced that we would be shirking our duty if we tur ned down the opportunity to do researchon the victimization of children which hopefully will help protect them in years to administrators, faculty and students invited to par ticipate in this endeavor shared my committed themselves to making the study a high priority, to immersing themselves in the manytasks which had to be done, and to maintaining the highest level of pr ofessionalism in carrying out thesensitive mandate entrusted to us.

10 This was a fast track pr oject, taking less than a year from start tofinish, but the faculty nevertheless faithfully adhered to the established norms of research ethics atevery step along the findings presented in this report are very disturbing. As we at John Jay College por ed over the data,we were deeply moved by the recitation of the large numbers of offenses committed against children and the seriousness of their nature. But we are genuinely hopeful that out of this excruciating inquir y willemerge not only a better understanding of the abuse pr oblem but a series of sensible, effective measuresto reduce the possibility that other children will suffer the kinds of abuses which we have uncover would like to thank the many men and women of good will without whose cooperation this study wouldhave been impossible to accomplish. I thank with special gratitude the many Catholic bishops acr oss thecountry who provided us in record time the detailed, revealing data from their files.