AG's tally of abuse outpaces church's

By KATHRYN MARCHOCKI
Union Leader Staff

A discrepancy exists between the number of reports of child sexual abuse against Roman Catholic clergy in the Diocese of Manchester kept by church officials and the state Attorney General's Office in 2004.

A state prosecutor yesterday said it's "very plausible" the inconsistency may be because some alleged victims filed complaints only with the state and not the diocese.

Still, it underscores the need for his office to conduct annual audits of diocesan records and personnel — mandated as part of the agreement the Manchester diocese struck with the state in 2002 to avoid criminal prosecution for child endangerment — Senior Assistant Attorney General N. William Delker said yesterday.

"That is obviously one of the important issues that the audit is supposed to investigate. And until we are able to review their records and speak with personnel who do intake on these cases, we can't compare the information we have with their records," Delker said.

"I don't want to characterize it as a matter of concern, because I don't know whether or not they have reported all the cases. That's certainly something we want to look at," he added.

To date, no audits have been done as the diocese and state wrangle over their scope and cost. Both sides argued their positions before Hillsborough County Superior Court Judge Carol A. Conboy last month. Conboy has yet to issue her ruling.

Diane Murphy Quinlan, diocesan chancellor and associate delegate for ministerial conduct, said the diocese welcomes the long-stalled audits.

"This issue of reports made is a perfect example of what should be measured in a compliance audit: how many reports we receive and how many we send to the Attorney General's Office," Quinlan said.

"That's what we've been waiting for. Our doors are open," she added.

The reported abuses date back decades.

In 2004, the state received 23 complaints of child sexual abuse against diocesan clergy, out-of-state clerics who allegedly abused minors in New Hampshire, and diocesan volunteers, Delker said.

They include 14 complaints against 11 diocesan priests and four allegations of abuse against non-clergy volunteers, he said.

In addition, the state received three complaints against out-of-state priests who allegedly abused minors here, Delker said. One was against former Springfield (Mass.) Bishop Thomas Dupre, who was accused of sexually abusing two teenage boys in New Hampshire in the 1970s and came directly to the state, Delker said.

Lastly, an alleged victim made two complaints against one priest in 2004, but the information was so vague the state could not determine the priest's name or whether he was a diocesan priest or affiliated with a religious institute, Delker said.

The diocese reported receiving 10 complaints against eight diocesan priests and deacons in 2004. The numbers were reflected in a national church-commissioned survey of U.S. dioceses made public Friday with a companion audit of dioceses' compliance with the child protection charter the nation's Catholic bishops adopted in June 2002.

Quinlan said the survey asked only for the number of reports received against diocesan priests and clerics against whom allegations were made that bore a "semblance of truth."

The survey, conducted for the nation's Catholic bishops by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University, did not ask for complaints received against church volunteers, staff or other personnel. But Quinlan said all complaints the diocese receives are forwarded to the Attorney General's Office.

"We did more reports than the CARA study" revealed, Quinlan said. She said she did not have the exact number available when contacted last night.

She noted the church-commissioned audit also released Friday found the Manchester diocese complied with child abuse reporting requirements that are both mandated by state law and set down in the agreement with the state.