The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops commissioned a survey of Roman Catholic church records of abusive clergy, to be completed by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. The survey is one component of the Dallas Charter, a plan developed by the bishops in 2002 to respond to allegations of widespread child abuse by priests, and of extensive cover-ups by the church. CNN.com obtained a draft copy of the report and posted a summary on their web site on 2004-FEB-17. 1 The final version was released on 2004-FEB-27.
Some of the raw data contained in the report:
Years covered: 1950 to 2002.
Percentage of bishops who provided information: 97% 3
Total number of allegations of sexual abuse of children by priests: 11,000. Number substantiated: 6,700 (61%).
Number unsubstantiated: 1,000 (9.1%).
Number which were not investigated because the allegations were made after the priest’s death: 3,300.
Number of priests who served during the interval: 110,000. Number of priests alleged to have abused children: 4,450.
Percentage of abusive priests: 4.0%
Number of priests who are currently serving: 44,000
Number of cases of abuse per priest:
Most priests were accused of a single event
1,112 priests (25.0%) had two or three allegations
578 priests (13%) had four to nine allegations.
133 priests (2.9%) had ten or more allegations.
Age of the victims:
Almost 6% were 7 years of age or younger.
16% were 8,9 or 10 years old.
78% were 11 to 17 years old.
http://www.religioustolerance.org/clergy_sex20.htm
The three companies that insure the majority of Protestant churches in America say they typically receive upward of 260 reports each year of young people under 18 being sexually abused by clergy, church staff, volunteers or congregation members.Protestant numbers have been harder to come by and are sketchier because the denominations are less centralized than the Catholic church; indeed, many congregations are independent, which makes reporting even more difficult.
The following site provides a collection of news reports on ministers who have sexually abused children.
SEXUAL ABUSE OF CHILDREN BY PROTESTANT MINISTERS
We would all do well to heed the words of our Lord.