On Friday, officials at the Vatican Embassy in Washington, D.C., and in Rome received a letter from Seattle area survivors of child sexual abuse and their advocates. They’re asking top officials to investigate leadership at the Archdiocese of Seattle for withholding documents related to sexual abuse allegations against its clergy members.
The letter follows a lawsuit filed by Attorney General Bob Ferguson in May, an effort to compel the Seattle Archdiocese to turn over documents related to those sexual abuse allegations for a state investigation.
“The Church has more information than is shared with the public,” Ferguson said at a press conference about the lawsuit. “It has released names, but has not released its files on these abusive priests. No one has read files. The purpose of our investigation is to uncover whether the Church has misused charitable trust funds to cover up systemic sexual abuse and shield abuse of priests.”
But a King County Superior Court judge sided with the Archdiocese on Friday, ruling that the Attorney General’s Office did not have the jurisdiction to subpoena those records. Judge Michael Scott cited the Church’s religious exemption from state charitable trust laws — the core argument made by Seattle Archbishop Paul Etienne and Archdiocese attorneys.
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