Survivors of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church are demanding the courts release a 456-page report detailing the history of allegations against priests and resulting coverup in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, the fruits of a nearly four-year state investigation.
The survivors and their attorneys announced at a news conference Wednesday they filed a request with the Baltimore Circuit Court in an attempt to bring the confidential report to the public.
“Only when this is out and in the open can healing really begin,” their attorney Robert Jenner said.
The survivors include two women who say they were violently raped by a priest while students at Archbishop Keough High School. The survivors decried the fact that church leaders have been able to read the report while they — victims whose testimony helped investigators — have been barred from seeing it.
OnFriday, a Baltimore judge closed the door on all proceedings related to the report and sealed all arguments over whether the document should be released. Circuit Judge Anthony Vittoria, whose biography says he’s a member of the Catholic Community of South Baltimore, also prohibited attorneys from discussing what’s going on in the case. The judge declined questions about his membership in the parish, citing confidentiality of the case.
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