Attorney General Taking Action To Release Grand Jury Report Into Clergy Sex Abuse In Pennsylvania

Follow CBSPHILLY Facebook Twitter

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro is taking legal action to make a grand jury report on sex abuse in the Catholic Church in Pennsylvania public.

The 800-plus page report investigating decades of priest sex abuse across Pennsylvania remains barred from release by the state Supreme Court. On Friday morning, Shapiro announced he would be taking legal action on Monday to make the reports public.

The Supreme Court upheld the report's release after sources tell CBS3 more than two dozen people objected. The reasons why have legal experts troubled.

"It's fundamental that people who commit crimes be held responsible," attorney Tom Kline said.

Shapiro ordered the investigation of six Pennsylvania dioceses, including Allentown, Erie, Greensburg, Harrisburg Pittsburgh and Scranton.

The court explained in an opinion that it's still reviewing the massive document. Kline believes the Supreme Court will eventually do the right thing but he questions the role of those connected to the church.

"Their first instinct is to make sure it is swept under the rug," he said. "Their first instinct is to make sure it doesn't come to light and that's the opposite of what they promised their followers, the public and law enforcement."

A spokesman for Shapiro told Eyewitness News, "The time is up for the Supreme Court's review of the report."

All the diocese Eyewitness News contacted claimed to have had no role in keeping the report under wraps.