The Accused: Tracking Hidden, Abusive Priests

KXAN-TV
01/31/2020

In 2019, all Roman Catholic dioceses in Texas had released their lists of priests "credibly accused of sexually abusing a minor." The lists do not indicate those individuals who were charged or convicted of any crimes, though the names spanned nearly 70 years, joining a growing number of allegations against clergy nationwide. KXAN spoke with accusers, police and state leaders to investigate the system for reporting abuse against children. But one year later, very few additional accusers have come forward, as KXAN discovered the church’s lists were incomplete, sometimes misleading and even wrong. Our research has also filled in many blanks and reveals dozens of previously unmentioned accused priests. Critics say Texas' lists of accused priests did not include enough details for the public to pinpoint abuse in their communities, most often only indicating locations clergy served but not timeframes. KXAN investigators worked with a source to obtain directories of all Catholic personnel in the U.S. for 10 specific years since 2000, filling in the blanks with hundreds of Texas priests' assignments in data now available online. We have also added dozens of names to those listed by Texas' dioceses in 2019, using information collected in early 2020 by KXAN from Catholic orders and also the watchdog group, BishopAccountability.org. Links to those sources can be found in the "Links" tab in our data. The church has also added a few names itself in that time period. This video entry consists of coverage on this topic over three newscasts on a single day. For our full digital project, to review our "Connecting the Clergy" data feature, and to explore an interactive map to track accused priests in Central Texas, go to: kxan.com/priests

LINK to content online
LINK 2 to content online
LINK 3 to content online
LINK 4 to content online
LINK 5 to content online
LINK 6 to content online
LINK 7 to content online
LINK 8 to content online
LINK 9 to content online
LINK 10 to content online

Additional Content:
Full On-air Coverage
Investigative Overview
Results Digital Documentary
Political Program

Submitted by Josh Hinkle.