HARRISBURG — The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania on Wednesday halted the release of a statewide grand jury report into sexual abuse claims involving dioceses in Erie and five other places in the state, about a week before it was expected to be made public.
The two-paragraph court order did not explain the reasons but said nothing in the court file except the new order is available for public inspection. State Attorney General Josh Shapiro said the court accepted legal challenges to the issuing of the report, and “issued a stay of proceedings to review and decide those challenges.”
The report is expected to reveal details of widespread abuse and efforts to conceal and protect abusive priests.
The court told the grand jury supervisory judge and the state attorney general’s office they may not release the findings until the court gives its permission.
Victim advocates have said the report is expected to be the largest and most exhaustive by a U.S. state. Before the latest order, state prosecutors had said they were likely to release it by the end of next week.
“My legal team and I will continue fighting tirelessly to make sure the victims of this abuse are able to tell their stories and the findings of this investigation are made public to the people of Pennsylvania,” said Shapiro.
One of the victims who testified before the grand jury was Bradford native Jim Vansickle, who told his story about abuse at the hands of Father David Poulson while at Bradford Central Christian High School thirty years ago.
Wednesday night, he told The Era he was frustrated by the court’s order.
“But I also know that this report may hold information that may scare those who have done wrong,” Vansickle said. “To me it is just a stall tactic before the inevitable.”
“For victims, I can see the outrage but they need to remember that this is just a lost battle in a bigger War,” he added.
He referred to Bishop Lawrence Persico of the Erie Diocese, who said earlier this year that the report would be the “next sobering moment for the church.”
Vansickle said that’s not the case.
“I am sure he wants it to be the end but it will really only be the beginning. The information within will expose new predators, more possible cover ups and of course many more victims blocked by the statute of limitations,” Vansickle said. “The number of victims is growing and their voices are getting louder. The crack at the church walls to conceal these issues will eventually bust open and then we will have real transparency which will include the church taking ownership and receiving accountability. Only then can victims heal and the church can regain the trust that they themselves have squandered.”
Persico issued a statement as well, saying the Erie Diocese did not seek a stay of the publication of the report. He added, too, that the diocese is “committed to transparency. We anxiously await the Supreme Court’s decision on this matter, and support the release of the report which will give victims a voice. Until the report is released, we will continue our efforts to identify abusers and provide counseling and assistance to victims.”
According to the Associated Press, Judge Norman Krumenacker, based in Cambria County, earlier this month made public his decision to reject an effort to delay the release of the report or let those named in it challenge the details before it’s made public.
He wrote that jurors heard from dozens of witnesses and reviewed over half a million pages of internal documents from diocesan archives. The investigation involved claims of child sexual abuse, failure to report to law enforcement and obstruction of justice by those associated with the Roman Catholic Church, local public officials and community leaders.
The judge said the state has a strong interest in preventing child abuse “by identifying abusers and those individuals and institutions that enable (them) to continue abusing children.”
The investigation covered the Allentown, Erie, Greensburg, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh and Scranton dioceses.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
