Cincinnati Archdiocese pleads 'no contest' on failure to report abuse

Published: 2003-11-21

CINCINNATI (CNS) -- Entering a plea of "no contest" to five misdemeanor counts in a Hamilton County courtroom Nov. 20, the Archdiocese of Cincinnati accepted responsibility for charges of failing to report sexual abuse involving priests and minors. Cincinnati Archbishop Daniel E. Pilarczyk, 69, entered the unprecedented plea on behalf of the archdiocese, ending a nearly two-year investigation spearheaded by Hamilton County Prosecutor Mike Allen. Flanked by two attorneys, the archbishop answered quietly and firmly as the judge asked if he understood the nature of the proceedings. The plea indicates that the archdiocese accepts the facts of the case as set forth by the prosecutor's office but does not admit to committing the crimes, which are a fourth-degree misdemeanor. The archdiocese was ordered by Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Richard Niehaus to pay a $10,000 fine for the violations -- which occurred from 1978 to 1982, while then-Archbishop Joseph L. Bernardin headed the local church. The charges do not cite specific cases of abuse.

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