Article Title

Virginia attorney general opens investigation of possible child sex abuse and coverup in the Catholic Church

Link to Article:     https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2018/10/24/virginia-attorney-general-opens-investigation-possible-child-sex-abuse-coverup-catholic-church/?utm_term=.b9d636223abd

Source:  Washington Post

Author(s):    Michelle Boorstein and Laura Vozzella

Date:  October 24, 2018 

Synopsis of Article 

The office of Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring has launched an investigation into the state’s two Catholic dioceses, to determine whether child sexual abuse (a criminal offense) has occurred and, if so, whether there was an effort (conspiracy) to conceal it (also a criminal offense). Herring launched his probe not in response to knowledge of specific acts of unreported abuse or of coverup in the Virginia dioceses, but in response to Report 1 of the Pennsylvania 40th Statewide Investigating Grand Jury, Interim – Redacted. In a statement issued by his office, Herring said “we shouldn’t assume the behavior and the problems are limited just to Pennsylvania or to one diocese. If there has been abuse or coverup in Virginia like there was in Pennsylvania, I want to know about it, I want to root it out, and I want to help survivors get justice and get on a path to healing.”