(NETWORK INDIANA) The Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend has released the names of priests and deacons within the diocese “credibly accused of sexual abuse of a minor.”
A Diocese Review Board put the list together, which accuses 18 priests or deacons of misconduct. The list recounts the times and dates of around 62 incidents in which each of the priests of deacons listed were accused of sexually abusing a child either while they were within the diocese are part of another diocese before coming to Indiana.
“As leaders we have an obligation to protect those who cannot protect themselves,” Rhoades said at an August press conference during which he announced this list would be compiled. “As a bishop I have worked to expose and punish those responsible for abuse.”
Rhoades himself was recently accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a prison inmate while he was the Bishop of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, but that allegation was found to be unsubstantiated by a district attorney.
Of the priests and deacons on the list released Tuesday, eight have died, two are in jail, and the rest have been dismissed from the clergy.
The Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend says in a press release it “stands firm in its commitment to investigate any allegation of sexual abuse by a member of the clergy and to listen to and support anyone who has been abused.”
