Exhibit 470

The Sexual Abuse of Children in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston

Exhibit 470 · Attorney general's report

The Sexual Abuse of Children in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston

There is overwhelming evidence that for many years Cardinal Law and his senior managers had direct, actual knowledge that substantial numbers of children in the Archdiocese had been sexually abused by substantial numbers of its priests.

Attorney General's report after a 16-month investigation (grand jury, prosecutors, State Police). Reports 789 victims complaining to the Archdiocese and 250 priests and church workers accused over at least six decades; finds institutional acceptance of abuse and failure of leadership; finds no evidence sufficient to charge the Archdiocese or its senior managers under then-applicable law, noting clergy were not mandated reporters until May 2002. Copy used is a third-party host of the AG PDF.

Source: Office of the Attorney General, Commonwealth of Massachusetts (Thomas F. Reilly)
Date: 23 July 2003
Quoted from: Finding No. 3, section 1, p. 25
Grade: Primary record
Document: https://www.bishop-accountability.org/resources/resource-files/reports/ReillyReport.pdf
Accessed: 2026-11-09
Cited by: Findings citing this exhibit

Cited by

Finding REL-3.1: Primary record The Massachusetts Attorney General reported on 23 July 2003 that Cardinal Law, as head of the Archdiocese of Boston, and his senior managers had direct, actual knowledge for many years that substantial numbers of children in the Archdiocese had been sexually abused by substantial numbers of its priests. The report found no evidence sufficient to charge the Archdiocese or its senior managers under the law then in force and states that clergy were not mandated reporters of child abuse in Massachusetts until May 2002.