Baltimore Catholic church sex abuse report to be released Wednesday with redactions

BALTIMORE -- A Baltimore court on Tuesday authorized the release of a report by the Maryland Attorney General's Office on sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, though with significant redactions. 

The Attorney General's Office said the report would be released Wednesday afternoon. 

"We've been waiting a long time, right," Maryland Survivors Network For Those Abused by Priests (SNAP) Director David Lorenz said. "This has been a long time coming."

The report allegedly goes back 80 years and identifies 158 priests within the archdiocese accused of the "sexual abuse" and "physical torture" of more than 600 victims. Investigators with the Maryland Attorney General's Office completed the 456-page investigation and asked the courts in November for permission to release their findings to the public. 

The AG's office first started its investigation in 2019. Then in November, former Attorney General Brian Frosh asked for the report to be released.

There was some back and forth about whether it would be. Ultimately a circuit court judge decided to release the report, but with redactions.

The edits include the anonymization of 60 individuals referenced in the report by eliminating specific references, as well as redacting the names and identifying information of 37 more individuals.   

"We're really thrilled because I think we're going to see some sense of justice and some accountability," Lorenz said.

Survivors, attorneys and advocates for the survivors have been pushing the courts to release the report to the public.

Lorenz said the release is good news for the survivors.

"All their lives they've been told, 'no you're lying, father couldn't have done that. There's no way this priest could've done that,'" Lorenz said. "Now, they're going to be validated."