Article Title
D.C. attorney general opens inquiry into sexual abuse by Catholic priests in Washington
Link to Article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/dc-attorney-general-opens-probe-into-sexual-abuse-by-catholic-clergy-in-washington/2018/10/23/6fb4ea62-d650-11e8-83a2-d1c3da28d6b6_story.html?utm_term=.2b4cc902e261
Source: Washington Post
Author(s): Peter Jamison and Michelle Boorstein
Date: October 23, 2018
Synopsis of Article
D.C. Attorney General Karl A. Racine has opened a civil investigation into possible child sexual abuse by Catholic clergy in the Archdiocese of Washington D.C. To open the civil investigation, Racine used authority given to him by District laws that regulate nonprofit organizations. This approach was necessitated by the fact that the District attorney general has limited criminal prosecution power in the District of Columbia, where felonies are prosecuted by the local US attorney’s office.
According to the article:
D.C. statutes allow the attorney general to subpoena documents and seek penalties against a nonprofit — up to and including dissolving it — if it “has exceeded or abused and is continuing to exceed or abuse the authority conferred upon it by law” or if it “has continued to act contrary to its nonprofit purposes.”
“Any not-for-profit or charity that is using its charter to violate the law or conceal violations of the law could, in fact, be violating its not-for-profit charter,” Racine said.
The D. C. laws that regulate nonprofits have no statutes of limitation, allowing Racine to look back for decades.
Any felony criminal offences that might be uncovered by Racine’s probe can be referred to the US attorney’s office. Racine’s staff could prosecute, as misdemeanors, any violations of the District’s mandatory reporting requirements regarding child sexual abuse.
Racine was prompted to launch his probe by the “withering set of facts” in the Pennsylvania grand jury report (Report 1 of the Pennsylvania 40th Statewide Investigating Grand Jury, Interim – Redacted).
According to the Washington Archdiocese, there has been no clergy abuse of a minor in Washington for more than 20 years.