SCANDAL

Dutch Catholic Church Accused of Covering Up Sex Abuse

The alleged incidents spanned decades, from 1945 to 2010, according to a new report.

More than half of the Dutch leadership in the Catholic Church was allegedly involved in a widespread cover-up involving decades of child sexual abuse, a new report has alleged. The Dutch newspaper NRC published the claims Saturday, saying the alleged sexual abuse occurred between 1945 and 2010. During that time, 20 out of 39 Dutch cardinals, bishops, and auxiliaries were allegedly involved in keeping abuse allegations under wraps, “allowing the perpetrators to cause many more victims,” according to the report. Church spokeswoman Daphne van Roosendaal told Agence France-Presse that some of the bishops named had also been featured in a report commissioned by the church in 2010. Most of the other clerics have since died, while the statute of limitations has expired in all the alleged cases of abuse, Roosendaal said.