BALTIMORE — It’s taken four years for investigators with the Maryland Attorney General’s Office to uncover child sex abuse spanning 80 years inside the Catholic Church.
“It talks about 600, 600 children who were abused,” said David Lorenz, an alleged victim who later moved to Maryland and heads up SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests).
For some, decades had passed since they were victimized.
“It was three years ago, when I remembered this trauma of being sexually abused and raped as a nine-year-old boy by a Catholic priest,” said David Schappelle.
Of the 158 priests named in the report, 43 have never been publicly identified, and only 13 of those are still alive.
Advocates with SNAP want full disclosure and for victims to get their day in court.
“When they get that voice, it’s not a free ticket,” said Teresa Lancaster, another alleged victim. “As an attorney, I can tell you, you need evidence.”
There is also a call to expand the scope of the inquiry to other Maryland counties outside of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, which has responded to the report with a hope that it brings some measure of healing to those who were abused.
