Burns issues statement on grand jury report detailing widespread Catholic Church child sex abuse

Rep. Frank Burns    August 14, 2018 | 4:22 PM

EBENSBURG, Aug. 14 – In response to state Attorney General Josh Shapiro’s release today of a statewide grand jury report on child sexual abuse and related cover-ups in an additional six Roman Catholic Church dioceses in Pennsylvania, state Rep. Frank Burns issued the following statement:

“After a separate grand jury report in 2016 that detailed widespread but equally appalling conduct in the Altoona-Johnstown Roman Catholic Diocese, I became a staunch advocate for lengthening the statute of limitations for such crimes – and now I am even more angry and determined to see that the law is changed so victims can get the closure they deserve.

“For more than two years I’ve stood with allies, such as state Representative Mark Rozzi of Berks County – himself a victim of sex abuse at the hands of a priest – and my longtime friend Shaun Dougherty, who was similarly abused starting at age 10, to keep this issue front and center in the body politic.

“Now that this type of heinous and damaging behavior has been documented in the rest of Pennsylvania, perhaps we’ll have the critical mass needed in the legislature to advance the changes that Representative Rozzi, my good friend Shaun, I and many others know are needed to help victims find closure.

“We now know that these abuses were not confined to one region, but took place in six additional dioceses that cover 54 of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties. And in each one of these dioceses, church officials went to great lengths to cover up the rape of young children entrusted to their care. It’s sickening.

“On March 14, 2016, I took to the microphone at a Capitol news conference held to rally for changing the statute of limitations, and promised child sex abusers, ‘We’re coming after you.’ Today, I send an updated message to each and every one of them, ‘Watch out, because we’re still coming – and our train for justice just picked up speed.'"