Archdiocese fined in coverup

last updated 8 January 2015

Cincinnati

Leaders of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati have pleaded no contest to charges of covering up five cases of child molestation between 1978 and 1982, marking the first time a U.S. diocese has been convicted of a crime connected to the church’s sexual-abuse scandal. An Ohio judge last week fined the archdiocese $10,000. Under a plea deal, the church also agreed to establish a $3 million compensation fund for victims who were molested by priests. Judge Richard Niehaus, a lifelong Catholic, chastised church leaders for putting the institution’s “self-preservation” above their “moral duty” to protect children.