# Stats on Abuse in the Catholic Church?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stats-on-abuse-in-the-catholic-church/184022>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 24, 2003, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stats-on-abuse-in-the-catholic-church/184022 "2003-06-24T13:58:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![rhinostylee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bc79bd/32.png) [@rhinostylee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhinostylee)\
**Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stats-on-abuse-in-the-catholic-church/184022/1 "2003-06-24T13:58:53Z")

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In the recent past, many of the horrible abuses that have gone on for years within the Catholic Church were exposed. I personally know of a child-molesting priest that was never exposed.

So my question is if anyone knows any statistics regarding the actual number of sex crime accusations against Catholic priests that have been reported within the last 10 years. How many accused, how many indicted, how many cover-ups? How many law suits? Has anyone done any research on the topic?

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**Author:** ![Aro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b3f665/32.png) [@Aro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aro)\
**Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stats-on-abuse-in-the-catholic-church/184022/2 "2003-06-24T14:37:43Z")

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[This site](http://www.healthyplace.com/Communities/Abuse/holli/facts_stats/abuse_religion_stats.htm) states some figures, but certainly seem to have a bias in their reporting style.

> [@](#):
>
> Over 400 Catholic priests in North America were caught molesting children between 1984 and 1992.  
> The typical molester abuses scores to hundreds of children.  
> The Church has paid out over $400 million in settlements, and the total is expected to reach $1 billion before they are done.

[This site (Boston Globe)](http://www.boston.com/globe/spotlight/abuse/scandal/) may be a better place to start looking for facts regarding this issue.