There have been many cases of sexual abuse of children by priests, nuns, and other members of religious life in the Catholic Church. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the cases have involved many allegations, investigations, trials, convictions, acknowledgement and apologies by Church authorities, and revelations about decades of instances of abuse and attempts by Church officials to cover them up. The abused include mostly boys but also girls, some as young as three years old, with the majority between the ages of 11 and 14. Criminal cases for the most part do not cover sexual harassment of adults. The accusations of abuse and cover-ups began to receive public attention during the late 1980s. Many of these cases allege decades of abuse, frequently made by adults or older youths years after the abuse occurred. Cases have also been brought against members of the Catholic hierarchy who covered up sex abuse allegations and moved abusive priests to other parishes, where abuse continued.
Roger Michael Mahony is an American cardinal and retired prelate of the Catholic Church who served as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in California from 1985 to 2011. Before his appointment, he served as an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Fresno from 1975 to 1980 and bishop of the Diocese of Stockton from 1980 to 1985.
The Diocese of Stockton is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in the Central Valley and Mother Lode region of California in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archbishop of San Francisco
Anthony J. O'Connell was an Irish-born prelate of the Roman Catholic church. He served as the first of the Diocese of Knoxville in Tennessee from 1988 to 1998. He later served as the third bishop of the Diocese of Palm Beach in Florida from 1999 to 2002.
Kirby Bryan Dick is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and editor best known for directing documentary films. He received Academy Award nominations for Best Documentary Feature for directing Twist of Faith (2005) and The Invisible War (2012). He has also received numerous awards from film festivals, including the Sundance Film Festival and Los Angeles Film Festival.
Oliver Francis O'Grady is an Irish laicized Catholic priest who molested and abused at least 25 children in California from 1973 onwards. His abuse and Cardinal Roger Mahony's attempts to hide the crimes are the subject of Amy J. Berg's documentary film Deliver Us from Evil in 2006.
Thomas John Curry is an Irish-born American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. Curry served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in California from 1994 to 2018. From 1994 to 2013, he was episcopal vicar of the Santa Barbara Pastoral Region of the archdiocese.
This page documents Catholic Church sexual abuse cases by country.
Twist of Faith is a 2004 American documentary film about a man who confronts the Catholic Church about the abuse he suffered as a teenager, directed by Kirby Dick. The film was produced for the cable network HBO and screened at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. It received an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary Feature.
Thomas Peter O'Brien is an American white collar criminal defense lawyer at the Los Angeles law office of Ellis George Cipollone O’Brien Annaguey LLP. He was the United States Attorney for the Central District of California from October 2007 to September 2009.
Hand of God is a 2006 independent documentary that was acquired for national airing in the United States by Frontline. The film was directed and edited by Joe Cultrera and tells the story of how his brother Paul was molested in the 1960s by their parish priest, Father Joseph Birmingham, who allegedly abused nearly 100 other children. Cultrera tells the story of faith betrayed and how his brother Paul and the rest of the Cultrera family fought back against a scandal that continues to afflict churches across the country.
The sexual abuse scandal in Los Angeles archdiocese covered events that were documented beginning in the 1930s, but most publicity was related to events of the 1970s through 1990s. Priests accused of molesting children or adults in the parish were typically reassigned, without informing new parishes of charges against them, as the church protected its staff. Changes in policy took place, a dozen priests were dismissed in 2002, the church issued an apology and detailed report in 2004, and in 2007, the Archdiocese reached a settlement with 508 victims of $660 million, a recordbreaking amount. More lawsuits are expected when the California statute of limitations will be temporarily lifted on January 1, 2020.
The sexual abuse scandal in Stockton diocese is a significant episode in the series of Catholic sex abuse cases in the United States and Ireland.
The debate on the causes of clerical child abuse is a major aspect of the academic literature surrounding Catholic sex abuse cases.
Amy J. Berg is an American filmmaker. Her 2006 documentary Deliver Us from Evil (2006), about sex abuse cases in the Roman Catholic Church, was nominated for an Academy Award and won Berg the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Documentary Screenplay.
Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God is a 2012 documentary film directed by Alex Gibney. The film details the first known protest against clerical sex abuse in the United States by four deaf men. It features the voices of actors Jamey Sheridan, Chris Cooper, Ethan Hawke and John Slattery, who provide the voices of the deaf interviewees.
An Open Secret is a 2014 American documentary film directed by Amy J. Berg exposing child sexual abuse in the film industry in California.
Prophet's Prey is a 2015 American documentary directed and written by Amy J. Berg. The film follows Warren Jeffs, the president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, who is now running the religion from the confines of the Texas state prison, serving out a life sentence, for the rape of young girls. The film is an adaptation of the 2011 book of the same name by Sam Brower, who also serves as a producer on the film. Ron Howard serves as an executive producer under his Imagine Entertainment banner.
By the Grace of God is a 2019 French-Belgian drama film directed by François Ozon. The film stars Melvil Poupaud, Denis Ménochet and Swann Arlaud as three victims of a Catholic priest's abuse, who are set to expose the sexual abuse hidden by the Catholic Church.
At the Heart of Gold: Inside the USA Gymnastics Scandal is a 2019 American documentary film directed by Erin Lee Carr. The film is produced by David Ulich, and Steven Ungerleider. The film is based on the USA Gymnastics sex abuse scandal.
