Colorado: independent review finds abuse reported to police fewer than 10 times in 100 opportunities
Request a correction or replyRecord class
Institutional event
Evidence status
Official finding
Authority role
priests of Colorado's three dioceses, diocesan leadership controlling ministry assignments
Organization
Archdiocese of Denver, Dioceses of Pueblo and Colorado Springs
Archive classification
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The report's most damning metric is about authority itself: nearly two-thirds of the victims were harmed after the hierarchy already knew — the diocesan power over assignments was the mechanism of continued access.
- Pastoral or clerical authority
- Institutional obedience or isolation
Evidence structure
Proceedings
2019-10-23 · special master's report and 2020 supplement
Colorado Attorney General (Special Master Robert Troyer). The AG-commissioned review found at least 166 children abused by 43 priests over 70 years; that the dioceses reported abuse to police fewer than 10 times in roughly 100 opportunities since 1950; that the average gap between a credible allegation and any restriction of ministry was 19.5 years; and that 97 of the 166 victims were abused after bishops already knew the priest had offended. A December 2020 supplement substantiated 46 further victims.
Documented coercion mechanisms
- 19.5-year average gap between credible allegation and ministry restriction
- children abused after bishops already knew the priest was an offender
Cited record
Sources
- official ag report inquiry report Colorado Attorney General, 'Special Report on Catholic Clergy Sexual Abuse' (23 Oct. 2019) and supplement (1 Dec. 2020).
The special master's findings on victim counts, non-reporting, and post-knowledge abuse.
Source provenance
Source access and integrity log
This log records source retrieval and file integrity. It does not mean that an automated process independently confirmed every statement in the source.
- Source and tier basis
- https://coag.gov/resources/survivors-of-childhood-sexual-abuse/ Corpus classification: official-ag-report; evidentiary role: inquiry-report. SHA-256 503dfee76f947fa258cbc3a662df529014adafdb63b4cc9ccd268ab05b349037
- Retrieval
- 2026-07-20 · Preserved
- Bound by Fear automated source-preservation ledger
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Related record
Related cases · Christian institutions & contexts
- 2018 · Harrisburg, PA, USA PA grand jury: 301 priests, 1,000+ child victims documented ('weaponized' faith)
- 2009 · Dublin, Ireland Ryan Commission: abuse 'endemic' in Catholic-run institutions (state inquiry)
- 2021 · Paris, France CIASE/Sauvé Report: est. 216,000 abused by French clergy since 1950
- 2019 · Vatican City McCarrick: ex-cardinal found guilty by Vatican canonical process, laicized
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- 2014 · Philadelphia, PA, USA Schaible: 3rd-degree murder, second child dead of untreated pneumonia
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- 2012 · London, UK Kristy Bamu: kindoki 'deliverance' murder convictions (30/25-yr minimums)