[maryz]

I think you're remembering wrong. I posted this elsewhere, but it's relevant here (I added the year count and the averages):

The Boston Herald (7/24?) ran a summary of the Attorney General's report on the Archdiocese of Boston. According to archdiocesan records, instances of abuse reported were:

1940-1959 (20 years) – 24 (a bit over one per year)
1960-1969 (10 years) – 163 (over 16 per year)
1970-1979 (10 years) – 282 (almost 30 per year)
1980-1984 (5 years) --- 107 (over 21 per year)
1984-1992 (9 years) --- 86 (between 9 and 10 per year)
1993-2000 (8 years) --- 33 (a bit over 8 per year)

No date (whatever that means) -- 94 I don't know why the Herald broke out the years the way they did (except that I think Law started in 1984).

[ultima ratio]

You are right, I got it wrong. The disparity is still striking, though.

[ultima ratio]

Here's something else interesting: if you combine the two ten year periods, 1960-1969 with 1970-1979, the sum total is an astonishing 445 cases. This makes the comparison with the preconciliar 20 yr. period, 1940-1959, all the more striking.