Cases of church child abuse rise in US

A church-sponsored audit says the allegations of sexual abuse of minors committed by Roman Catholic Church clerics in the United States increased 15 percent in number in 2011. According to a report by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops released on Tuesday, a total of 489 people reported credible cases of allegations of sexual abuse by priests or deacons in 2011. The largest portion of the allegations was made by adults who were victimized when they were children by now-deceased clerics, Reuters reported. Twenty-one cases of the abuse allegations involved victims younger than 19 who made the allegations more recently, according to the report. Church officials have reported spending $144 million to deal with the scandal of child molestation by US priests and clerics. The findings of the report are from annual audits commissioned by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops to check compliance with a 2002 child safety plan. The plan includes a pledge to remove all credibly accused priests from church jobs, create support programs for those who have fallen victim to abuse and conduct background checks on employees who work with children. This is while victim advocacy groups such as the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP) and bishopaccountability.org say the church cannot maintain control over the situation, and that the crimes of church higher-ups hiding and transferring offending priests continue to persist.