KALAMAZOO, MI (WTVB) – Michigan State Police working for the Attorney General’s office executed search warrants at the offices of all seven Catholic Diocese in Michigan Wednesday.
They were looking for records on child abusing priests, to see if there have been any more offenders and any cover-up of their crimes.
It follows a similar investigation in Pennsylvania that turned up allegations against 300 members of the Catholic Clergy and over a thousand young victims.
The last sex-abuse scandal involving a priest in Michigan made headlines in 2002, but there have been none reported since.
The Kalamazoo Diocese issued a statement saying they cooperated fully.
The Diocese of Kalamazoo released the following statement in regards to today’s search warrant executed by the Michigan State Police:
“Today the Attorney General’s office, with the assistance of the Michigan State Police, executed a search warrant for the purpose of obtaining documents from the Diocese. The Diocese of Kalamazoo cooperated fully. This was part of a similar process that took place in all Catholic Dioceses in the State of Michigan, and is part of the Attorney General’s investigation into the handling of clergy sexual abuse allegations dating back to 1950.”
“As we stated previously, the Diocese stands ready to cooperate in any way that will lead to even greater protection and safeguards of all people, particularly for children and vulnerable adults. We encourage, once again, anyone with any information to contact our hotline 1-877-802-0115 and also to visit our dedicated website: https://protect.diokzoo.org/.”
(reporting from John McNeill)
