Kentucky AG Suiting Up to Investigate the Church

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FRANKFORT, Ky. (ChurchMilitant.com) - The Kentucky Attorney General wants to launch a criminal probe into allegations of Catholic clerical sex abuse.

Kentucky's attorney general, Democrat Andy Beshear, is seeking the Kentucky state legislature's permission to investigate allegations of sex abuse in the state's four Catholic dioceses.

If the state legislature approves, Kentucky will be the ninth U.S. state to have an attorney general investigation into Catholic clerical sex abuse and the cover-ups by Church leaders.

Kentucky Deputy Attorney General J. Michael Brown told the media in a statement, "We are working to secure justice for individual survivors who have reached out to the Attorney General's office."

Brown also said the office has been in contact with Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro.

Under Shapiro, the Pennsylvania grand jury report detailed allegations of sexual abuse implicating 300 clergy across six of Pennsylvania's eight dioceses. Shapiro told media back in August that other states' attorneys general had been reaching out to him in the wake of the release of the grand jury's findings.

Kentucky is only the latest in a whole string of states announcing investigations following on the heels of Pennsylvania's bombshell report. Other states on the list are Nebraska, Illinois and Vermont — to name just a few.

With so many states consider or pursuing investigations into Catholic clerical sex abuse cover-ups, some faithful Catholics are hoping that the Church can be purged through a massive federal investigation.

One possibility for a federal investigation that has been discussed at length is RICO violations. RICO is an anti-racketeering law that was used to take down the Mafia. Some argue it could be used against the Church in the United States, in cases where an abusive priest was moved between dioceses and across state lines.

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