New Jersey Catholic diocese pulls opposition to clergy sex abuse probe

Bishop Joseph A. Williams, the new leader of the Camden Diocese in New Jersey, said Monday that his diocese would drop its yearslong opposition to a statewide clergy sex abuse investigation. Williams, who took office in March, said in an interview with The Philadelphia Inquirer that the diocese wants to support abuse survivors and restore their trust.

An attorney for the diocese sent a letter to the New Jersey Supreme Court on Monday formally withdrawing opposition to the empanelment of a grand jury to look into abuse allegations, the Associated Press reported. It was unclear whether the eleventh-hour letter would affect the court’s upcoming decision on the matter, since the court already heard arguments against creating a grand jury last week.

How did we get here? The reversal comes after the Camden Diocese spent years fighting against the state attorney general’s investigation, which began in 2018, according to New Jersey Monitor. Prosecutors wanted a grand jury empaneled to consider evidence in the case, but the diocese argued that a state grand jury had no authority to investigate private church officials. The diocese also asked to seal all court records of the matter. Two lower courts agreed with the diocese. But in March, the New Jersey Supreme Court ordered the records to be unsealed and said it would hear the case.

Unsealed briefs show that the state task force assigned to the investigation fielded more than 550 calls alleging abuse by clergy. Its work led to four arrests, at least one conviction, and some ongoing charges—as well as discovery of some criminal conduct that fell outside the statute of limitations.