Boston, MA — A sweeping Massachusetts investigation has found that more than 270 Catholic clerics sexually abused nearly 1,000 children across the dioceses of Fall River, Springfield and Worcester over several decades, while church leaders repeatedly failed to stop the abuse.
The attorney general’s office said the investigation, launched in 2019, reviewed more than 300,000 pages of records and interviewed more than 100 people. Most of the documented abuse occurred before 2002, when reporting by The Boston Globe exposed widespread clergy abuse in the Archdiocese of Boston and triggered investigations worldwide.
Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell said church officials in all three dioceses knew for years that children were being abused but often failed to take effective action or confront institutional failures that allowed misconduct to continue.
The investigation did not produce broad new criminal charges. Prosecutors said some conduct was not criminal under Massachusetts law when it occurred, while statutes of limitations barred other cases. Three matters were referred to local district attorneys, with one resulting in charges.
The report calls for stronger child-protection policies, improved responses to survivors and greater institutional transparency. The Worcester Diocese said it would review the findings for additional reforms and pointed to an earlier apology from Bishop Robert McManus.
Campbell said legal barriers do not lessen the seriousness of the abuse or the state’s responsibility to document what happened.
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