Exhibit 472 ยท Commissioned study
The Causes and Context of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Catholic Priests in the United States, 1950-2010
Though more than 80 percent of cases now known had already occurred by 1985, only 6 percent of those cases had been reported to the dioceses by that time.
Second John Jay study. Finds incidents rose from the mid-1960s to the late 1970s and declined sharply after 1985; finds substantial reporting delays, institutional handling of allegations focused on the priest and not the victim, and non-transparent diocesan action; reports no single cause and attributes the rise partly to wider social change. Describes a 2006 supplementary report on the 2004 data.
- Source
- John Jay College of Criminal Justice (Karen J. Terry, principal investigator) for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
- Date
- May 2011
- Quoted from
- Executive Summary, p. 5
- Grade
- Primary record
- Document
- https://www.usccb.org/sites/default/files/issues-and-action/child-and-youth-protection/upload/The-Causes-and-Context-of-Sexual-Abuse-of-Minors-by-Catholic-Priests-in-the-United-States-1950-2010.pdf
- Accessed
- 2026-11-09
- Cited by
- Findings citing this exhibit