NEW JERSEY (KYW Newsradio) — Victims of clergy abuse feel a sense of relief that their stories may now be told after the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled Monday that the attorney general can impanel a grand jury to investigate their claims.
“It is a huge, huge relief," said Mark Crawford, state director for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP).
The Diocese of Camden previously argued that a court rule prevents the state attorney general from impaneling a grand jury to issue findings in the state’s investigation into decades of allegations against church officials. But the diocese notified the court in early May that it would no longer oppose that. Camden Bishop Joseph Williams, who took over the diocese in March, said he'd met with stakeholders in the diocese and there was unanimous consent to end the church’s opposition to the grand jury.
The seven-member Supreme Court concluded that such a grand jury inquiry is allowed.
A Pennsylvania grand jury report in 2018 found more than 1,000 children had been abused in that state since the 1940s, prompting the New Jersey attorney general to announce a similar investigation. The results of New Jersey’s inquiry never became public, partly because the legal battle with the Camden diocese was unfolding amid sealed proceedings. For years, victims were kept in the dark.
“I have been so hurt and disappointed time and time and time again that I am cautiously optimistic,” Crawford said.
Crawford hopes this ruling will finally bring victims some closure.
“This is not a civil court that’s going to award them any kind of judgment. It’s not that. This is wanting the public to know the depths of what went on, you know, who knew what and when,” he said. “There will be some semblance of justice and healing.”
Last month, Williams said they want victims’ voices and stories heard so this never happens again.
“I hope he sets a new example for other bishops, I truly do,” Crawford said. “I hope that there really is, this time, true reform and change.”