An independent Dutch inquiry into child sexual abuse committed by Catholic priests said Friday it found “tens of thousands” of victims since 1945, identifying 800 alleged perpetrators. Tens of thousands of minors were exposed to “mild, severe or very severe sexual behaviour” by clergy or lay workers in the Dutch Catholic Church over a 65-year period between 1945 and 2010, the commission said in its final report. “Based on 1,795 reports, the commission could find the names of 800 abusers who work or have worked for” Roman Catholic bishops in The Netherlands, the report said.
Most were priests, but the figure also includes lay workers. “Of these 800 people, 105 are still alive.” “It’s an absolutely enormous figure,” said former education minister Wim Deetman who chaired the six-person commission including a former judge, university professors and a psychologist that began its inquiry last year. Deetman said it was up to prosecutors to decide if the surviving alleged abusers should face criminal charges. Claims of alleged sexual abuse examined by the inquiry went from “light physical contact to penetration,” he said.
