There has been a great deal of upheaval in the Catholic church in recent decades. The number of priests accused of sexually abusing and molesting children is staggering, and it appears to be continuing to rise. It’s become so bad, in fact, that the pope himself has decided to tackle the issue head on. In his final address to nearly 190 bishops attending the Vatican’s summit on sex abuse earlier this year, Pope Francis called for the complete eradication of child sex abuse, both inside and outside the Catholic Church.

“I make a heartfelt appeal for an all-out battle against the abuse of minors both sexually and in other areas, on the part of all authorities and individuals, for we are dealing with abominable crimes that must be erased from the face of the earth.” Pope Francis explained. “This is demanded by all the many victims hidden in families and in the various settings of our societies.”

There are still so many child abuse crimes from decades ago…

But even if all child abuse was stopped within the Catholic church right now, it wouldn’t change the past. Children who were assaulted years ago will continue to come forward (as they should), and priests will continue to be accused of sexual abuse for crimes that took place decades ago, back when the church was better at covering their tracks. Which is what happened recently here in Michigan…

Last year in October, the Michigan Attorney General’s office seized hundreds of thousands of documents from the state’s seven dioceses. Since then, they have spent months pouring over the information. But as Attorney General Dana Nessel says, this is only the tips of the iceberg, amounting to 5 or 10 percent of the total – there is still so much to investigate. However, even that small amount of ground covered has proved fruitful, and five priests have been charged with sex crimes against children.

The Catholic church tends to keep their clergy on the move…

However, the Catholic church has long made a practice of moving their clergy members from place to place, sometimes because the fit isn’t quite right, and sometimes in an attempt to cover up a crime. So of the five priests facing charges, only one of them still resides in Michigan. Three of the other four were arrested in Arizona, California, and Florida, with the fifth facing possible extradition from India.

These priests living outside the state will be extradited back to Michigan, where they will face charges for either Child Abuse, or Criminal Sexual Conduct, or both. Right now there aren’t a lot of details available, but what we do know is that being accused of sexully assaulting a child is a very big deal here in Michigan! So if you’re ever accused of child molestation, or any other kind of child abuse, call The Kronzek Firm immediately at 866 766 5245 and get help from our skilled child abuse defense attorneys. We’re here to help.