Survivors of clergy sexual abuse not happy with speed of investigation

Published: June 7, 2022

MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin survivors of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church gathered at the State Capitol Tuesday to give their “report card” on Attorney General Josh Kaul’s statewide clergy abuse investigation.

One year ago to the day, Wisconsin Catholic Bishops refused to cooperate with the investigation. On Tuesday, survivors of clergy sexual abuse and advocates — including residential school survivors and members of the Menominee tribe — spoke up to say they are still waiting for investigations to start.

“On my reservation in Kashina, Wisconsin, we do have graves there,” Lorraine Shooter said. “We do have graves and we do have horrific stories and we do have stories of the priests and the nuns killing our children.”

Survivors of clergy sexual abuse say the investigations are moving too slowly.

The Wisconsin Department of Justice has received more than 200 reports of clergy abuse by more than 150 individuals to date.