ALTOONA, Pa. (ChurchMilitant.com) - Perpetrators of a systematic cover-up of hundreds of cases of child sex abuse in a Pennsylvania diocese may be facing federal charges of organized crime.
In a statement Friday U.S. Attorney David Hickton announced the continuing investigation into a massive four decade scandal involving Altoona-Johnstown diocesan hierarchy and local government authorities protecting dozens of known homosexual molesters meets the criteria for a federal case invoking the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). The RICO Act, which originated in 1970 to combat the NY crime families, allows leaders of organizations to face charges for crimes they ordered be committed or enabled others to commit.
The abuses in question date back several decades, with the majority of molestations occurring during the 1970s and 1980s and the earliest known abuse taking place in 1940. For this reason the current statute of limitations prohibits charges from being levied concerning both the abuses and the cover-up. (more...)
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