Maryland Office Of The Attorney General To Release Report On Sexual Abuse In The Archdiocese Of Baltimore

BALTIMORE COUNTY - On Friday, Baltimore Circuit Judge Robert Taylor ordered the Maryland Attorney General’s Office to release its report on the Archdiocese of Baltimore, shedding light on decades of sexual abuse.

In his ruling, Taylor determined that the “need for disclosure outweighs the need for secrecy” and that “keeping this report from the public is an injustice.”

The office of Attorney General Anthony Brown will release the report sometime in March after they redact 208 names who were not previously identified publicly. These are the names of individuals either accused of abusing children, covering up abuse, silencing victims, or otherwise enabling abusers.

According to Taylor, the 208 people must be notified of their appearance in the report and will be given 15 days to inform the court whether or not they wish to be heard on the motion to release the document in full. Any who do will be given a chance to review the portion of the report that addresses their involvement and to argue against its disclosure.

The report is the product of a four-year investigation into the sexual abuse of children at the hands of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore clergy. The Baltimore Sun reports that the history of abuse goes back eight decades and involves more than 600 children.

Taylor said releasing the report as quickly as possible is vital because the Maryland General Assembly is currently considering legislation that would end the time limit for filing child sex abuse lawsuits.

“Further delay in [the report’s] release would prevent the General Assembly from considering this 469-page trove of information about this topic,” Taylor wrote.