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Issue Date: August 27, 2004 2004 audits of diocesan sex abuse policy begin By CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE The 2004 audits to measure compliance with sex abuse prevention policies by U.S. dioceses and Eastern-rite eparchies started in late July. A new question this year is the number of allegations received by dioceses and eparchies since their 2003 audit, said Sheila Horan, deputy director of the U.S. bishops Office of Child and Youth Protection. The answers will establish a statistical base line needed to measure the success of prevention policies by showing whether future accusations will rise or fall, she said. The child and youth protection office is responsible for conducting the on-site audits and has contracted the Gavin Group to do this years audits. It is the same organization that did the 2003 audits, the first to be conducted. Innovations in the 2004 include:
The 2003 audit did not ask about allegations. However, a church-approved national study on the sex abuse crisis by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice found that dioceses and eparchies received credible allegations of abuse against 4,392 clergymen involving 10,667 minors from 1950 to 2002. People with information that indicates that a particular article, or articles, of the charter are not being complied with in a diocese or eparchy can mail the data to: Gavin Group, P.O. Box 520162, Winthrop MA 02152. National Catholic Reporter, August 27, 2004 |
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