Here & Now

Attorney General Josh Kaul on Clergy Abuse in Wisconsin

Marisa Wojcik:

We shift now from Washington to Wisconsin news, including a new state initiative launched this week by Attorney General Josh Kaul. It’s an updated effort to review reports of clergy abuse in Wisconsin. The Department of Justice worked together drafting the plan with district attorneys, survivor groups and crime victim service workers.

Josh Kaul:

Our review will consist of two principal parts. First, we will be requesting and reviewing documents produced by dioceses and religious orders. Secondly, we are asking anybody with knowledge of clergy and faith leader abuse, including the institutional response to that abuse, to contact us. I want to stress that we strongly encourage anyone who knows anything to report. No detail is too small. If you’ve reported before, we would like you to contact us. If you haven’t reported before, we would like for you to contact us. And if you know about abuse involving somebody who can’t report, we want to encourage you to report that abuse.