Topline
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating allegations of sexual abuse by priests in the Catholic Church’s Archdiocese of New Orleans who allegedly transported children across state lines to assault them, the Associated Press reported Wednesday, citing unnamed sources.
FBI Reportedly Launches Investigation into Alleged Sexual Abuse at New Orleans Catholic Church … [+]
Highlights
Authorities are debating whether they can charge priests accused of abusing children for decades under the Mann Law — a 1910 law prohibiting the use of interstate commerce to transport women for “immoral purposes” that has no statute of limitations, according to the AP.
The Archdiocese of New Orleans named 57″credibly accusedclergy, since reports of sexual abuse began pouring in following a civil action in October 2018.
The FBI has interviewed more than a dozen alleged victims over the past year, including cases of alleged abuse while traveling to amusement parks in Florida and Texas and outings at camps in Mississippi. , some of them dating back decades, according to the AP.
The archdiocese said in a statement that it “is not aware of any federal investigation into clergy abuse.”
Forbes has contacted the FBI and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops for comment – the FBI declined to comment to the AP.
Federal prosecutors have also used the Mann Act against singer R. Kelly, accused of sexually exploiting underage girls, and Ghislaine Maxwell for encouraging financier Jeffrey Epstein to abuse girls.
Key Context
In May 2021, the Archdiocese filed a request Chapter 11 Bankruptcyaccording to a Press release. Stories of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church made headlines in the 1990s after cases in Austria, Argentina and Australiaand in 2002, when the The Boston Globe reported the church covered up years of abuse, prompting more alleged victims to come forward across the country. A 2004 report commissioned by the church found that more than 4,000 priests had been the subject of allegations of sexual abuse – involving more than 10,000 children – over the past 50 years. In January, Louisiana became the 22nd state to implement a “retrospective windowto prevent statutes of limitations preventing victims of sexual abuse from coming forward for older cases.
Tangent
The Saints of New Orleans admitted to provide public relations work to the Archdiocese following the 2018 civil suit and its release of the 57 “credibly accused” clergy. The team downplayed their help as “minimal”.
Further reading
At least 330,000 minors have been sexually abused in the French Catholic Church since 1950, report says (Forbes)
The Roman Catholic Church in the United States has received at least $1.4 billion in taxpayer-funded PPP loans (Forbes)
FBI opens wide investigation into New Orleans clergy sex abuse (Associated Press)
