Massachusetts Probe Uncovers Decades of Clergy Abuse Across Three Dioceses, Identifying Nearly 1,000 Victims

BOSTON — A state investigation released Wednesday has documented the sexual abuse of nearly 1,000 children by more than 270 Catholic clergy members across three Massachusetts dioceses over several decades.

The report, issued by Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell, provides the first comprehensive public accounting of the abuse and the institutional failures that enabled it to persist for more than half a century within the Dioceses of Fall River, Springfield, and Worcester.

Most of the documented abuse occurred prior to 2002, the year the Boston Globe’s Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation exposed systemic cover-ups within the Archdiocese of Boston, sparking a global reckoning. Campbell’s investigation revealed that the three dioceses outside Boston exhibited similar patterns: leadership was aware that priests and other clerics were abusing children but frequently prioritized the church’s reputation over the safety of victims.

“Too often they protected the reputation of the church rather than protecting children,” Campbell stated during a press conference.

The investigation identified at least 275 accused clergy members and 944 child victims. “Behind every one of those numbers is a child whose safety was violated, a family that was changed forever, and a survivor who carried the trauma of that abuse for years and, in many cases, decades,” Campbell said.

In response to the findings, the Diocese of Worcester pledged to review the report “to identify any additional improvements that can be made to respond to victims of past abuse and to continue to strengthen efforts to keep children safe.” Fall River Bishop Edgar da Cunha issued an apology to survivors, expressing sorrow over the “historical account of incidents and practices reflecting the tragic failings to protect our most vulnerable.” Springfield Bishop William Byrne described the report as “humbling” and noted that his diocese had already implemented new, trauma-informed policies and procedures to address past failures.

The 2002 Globe reporting, later depicted in the Oscar-winning film “Spotlight,” triggered a wave of worldwide investigations and prompted the Massachusetts legislature to enact a series of reforms. In 2019, then-Attorney General Maura Healey—now the state’s governor—launched a criminal probe into the three dioceses to assess leadership responsibility regarding the supervision of abusive clergy.

Campbell, who disclosed she was a victim of child abuse by a relative, said her office made three referrals to local district attorneys during the probe, resulting in charges in one Worcester case. Her office did not pursue further prosecutions, citing expired statutes of limitations and conduct that was not criminalized at the time it occurred.

Campbell argued that the report underscores the necessity for the dioceses to adopt further reforms and for new state legislation to support survivors, including the elimination of the statute of limitations for civil claims involving childhood sexual abuse.

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