Interview Transcript Title
New Jersey Launches Investigation Into Clergy Abuse In The State’s Catholic Dioceses
Link to Transcript: https://www.npr.org/2018/09/07/645665448/new-jersey-launches-investigation-into-clergy-abuse-in-the-states-catholic-dioce
Source: National Public Radio
Author(s): Audie Cornish (Interviewer) and NJ AG Gurbir Grewal (Interviewee)
Date: September 7, 2018
Excerpts from the Interview Transcript:
The New Jersey attorney general has announced the creation of a special task force that will investigate clergy sexual abuse in that state’s Catholic diocese. The task force will also look at any efforts to cover up abuse.
CORNISH: So this task force will be comprised of prosecutors and detectives. I assume it’s going to have subpoena power. What are you going to be looking for?
GREWAL: We’ll be looking to identify any patterns of abuses by members of the clergy in New Jersey. We’ll be looking to see if the diocese here in New Jersey abided by a 2002 memorandum that established protocols by which they should report and investigate sexual abuse cases in their areas of responsibility. So we’ll be measuring compliance, and we’ll be looking for patterns. And we’ll be looking for cover-ups, and we’ll be looking to hold people accountable.
CORNISH: Many of the cases detailed in the Pennsylvania report fell outside the statute of limitations. Now, I know New Jersey has a slightly more lenient standard that says that if a victim understands what’s happened only later in life, that the statute of limitations is suspended. What does that mean for the chances of investigating cases?
GREWAL: We do have a longer statute of limitations in some criminal cases depending on the facts. That means that we will have more ability to charge cases that in other areas of the country would be out of time. Our hotlines have been ringing off the hook since they went online yesterday. And if we’re able to identify instances of abuse, we will bring perpetrators to justice no matter what their status was in the church. And we will uncover any individuals who are involved in a cover-up and hold them accountable as well.