Church Sex Predators Told Victims Abuse Was 'God's Will,' Maryland AG Says

Priests and other clergy members of the Archdiocese of Baltimore are accused of sexually abusing more than 600 children over a 60-year period, according to a staggering report by the office of Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown, who added that the number of victims is much higher than the jarring figure in the report.

The 463-page investigation released Wednesday by Brown's office accuses 156 members of the clergy, mostly priests, and some with dozens of victims apiece.

Joseph Maskell, former chaplain at the all-girls Archbishop Keough High School, is accused of abusing at least 39 children. He was moved from two parishes for "troubling behavior with children" prior to being placed at the all-girls school, the report states.

The Maryland report is the latest in a decades-long sex-abuse saga that has plagued the Roman Catholic Church and cost the church billions of dollars. Hundreds of thousands of victims have come forward in the last decade, most notably in France where a report alleged thousands of priests had sexually abused more than 200,000 children. In Illinois, there are concerns that over 1,000 reports of sexual misconduct by clergy were not reviewed properly.

One of the most chilling sections of the Maryland attorney general's investigation details how the abusers found and groomed their victims. Many told the children that the abuse was "God's will" and that no one would doubt the word of a priest. Some threatened that the victim or victim's family would go to hell if they told anyone.

Some of the information is redacted from the Maryland report, including names of church hierarchy involved in transferring or helping accused clergy members. Several parishes had multiple abusers, including St. Mark Parish in Catonsville, which had 11 child abusers living and working there from 1964 to 2004, according to the report.

"Leaders of the Archdiocese repeatedly dismissed reports of abuse and exhibited little to no concern for victims," the investigation found. "They transferred known abusers to other positions of equal authority and access to children. They focused not on protecting victims or stopping the abuse, but rather on ensuring at all costs that the abuse be kept hidden."

Newsweek reached out to the Archdiocese of Baltimore for comment via email Wednesday night, and the church pointed to an archbishop's letter as its response: Archbishop William E. Lori penned a pastoral letter regarding Brown's report, calling the detailed accounts of abuse "shocking and soul searing."

"It is difficult for most to imagine that such evil acts could have actually occurred," Lori said. "For victim-survivors everywhere, they know the hard truth: These evil acts did occur."

Brown urged any other victims to come forward by calling 410-576-6312 or emailing report@oag.state.md.us.

"We want to express our profound appreciation for the survivors who exhibited such bravery and courage in coming forward to tell their stories and share their experiences," Brown said on Twitter.