Priests With Illinois Ties Part Of PA Child Sex Abuse Report: AG

CHICAGO — At least seven Catholic priests with Illinois ties are among the hundreds of those facing child sexual abuse allegations stemming from a recent Pennsylvania grand jury report, the Illinois attorney general's office revealed this week. According to the grand jury findings released earlier this month, more than 1,000 children were abused by more than 300 "predator" priests in six of Pennsylvania's eight dioceses, and the bulk of the attacks happened before the early 2000s..

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan said Thursday that her office has identified at least seven priests from the grand jury report who have state connections. She now intends to sit down with the Archdiocese of Chicago to discuss the report.

"I plan to reach out to the other dioceses in Illinois to have the same conversation and expect the bishops will agree and cooperate fully," Madigan said in a statement Thursday. "If not, I will work with states' attorneys and law enforcement throughout Illinois to investigate."

RELATED: 300 PA Priests Sexually Abused 1,000 Children: Grand Jury

The 900-page report — the findings can be found online — describes the alleged abuse in detail, but the names of the priests are temporarily redacted. A half-million pages of internal diocesan documents were subpoenaed and reviewed, which helped uncover "credible allegations" against the priests. While the victims were predominately boys, there were female victims, too.

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