Chicago archdiocese launches sex abuse research site

Chicago’s Roman Catholic archdiocese has launched a website that allows people to research whether one of its priests has been accused of sexual misconduct with children.

The website is part of a settlement in October in which the archdiocese agreed to provide information on 55 priests involved in 140 credible cases of sexual abuse in the last 50 years.

Victims groups criticised the project, saying it discouraged users by requiring them to reveal their names and reasons for their inquiries.

But archdiocese spokesman Jim Dwyer said it was to dissuade people from compiling lists of priests accused of crimes and publicising them, before guilt had been established.