BOSTON -- Massachusetts Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly released a report explaining why he is not indicting Catholic officials for the sexual abuse of at least 1,000 children since 1940.
Reilly said he found no evidence Cardinal Bernard Law or other officials "encouraged priests to abuse children, intended that priests would abuse children, intended to obstruct justice…interfered with the testimony or role of a witness…or entered into unlawful agreements," according to The Associated Press.
The report noted officials failed to ensure an offender would never harm a child again by not reporting him to authorities, supervising him closely or warning people in his parish about his past.
Lawmakers added clergy to the list of professionals who must report credible suspicions of abuse and approved a bill that allows criminal charges to be filed against those who fail to take steps to alleviate sexual abuse of a child.
The report documented abuse by 237 priests and 13 other church workers.
"The mistreatment of children was so massive and so prolonged that it borders on the unbelievable," Reilly said.
