Catholic clergy sexually abused nearly 1,000 Massachusetts children over decades, report finds
No new indictments from eight-year investigation as state attorney general says church knew about abuse
More than 270 Catholic clerics sexually abused nearly 1,000 children across three Massachusetts dioceses over several decades, according to a report released by the state’s attorney general’s office on Wednesday.
The eight-year-long investigation did not result in new indictments, the office said, claiming that some conduct identified was not a crime under Massachusetts law at the time it occurred, and that in other cases the applicable statute of limitations had expired.
However, three cases were referred to different district attorney’s offices and one of those resulted in criminal charges. The majority of the abuse occurred before 2002.
“The evidence gathered during this investigation also shows that, for decades, and especially before 2002, church officials in all three dioceses knew about the sexual abuse of children yet did not take effective action to prevent it or to examine the institutional failures of leadership that led to scores of children being victimized at the hands of abusive priests,” the report stated.
The attorney general’s office said the report was “the first comparable public accounting of the institutional failures within the Fall River, Springfield and Worcester dioceses”.
The abuses in the archdiocese of Boston drew international attention after the Boston Globe published its Pulitzer-winning coverage in 2002, and prompted other investigations around the world that found similar cases of sexual abuse.
“I strongly urge the dioceses and the broader church to take these recommendations seriously and implement greater, meaningful changes to strengthen child protection and improve responses to allegations of abuse,” the Massachusetts attorney general, Andrea Joy Campbell, said at a press conference.
“Behind every one of those numbers is a child whose safety was violated, a family that was changed forever and a survivor who carried that abuse for years, and in many cases decades. They continue to carry this trauma even today,” Campbell said.
“I know many survivors have been waiting a long time to see these findings made public. I understand the frustration that comes with that wait. It is my hope that today is a meaningful step forward toward truth, accountability and healing that survivors deserve,” she added.
Only one of the three dioceses responded to the report in a statement. “We will study the attorney general’s report to identify any additional improvements that can be made to respond to victims of past abuse and to continue to strengthen efforts to keep children safe,” said the diocese of Worcester in a statement.
The diocese of Worcester did not apologise on Wednesday for its clerics’ behavior, but pointed to an apology by Bishop Robert J McManus, who wrote in 2022 that he was “profoundly sorry for the abuse of minors by priests” within his diocese.
“I continue in my commitment with the help of many collaborators to do everything we can to ensure such abuse does not happen again,” he said at the time. The diocese of Worcester also highlighted that no charges were filed.
Many of the individuals identified in the report are also deceased, the report said. “Any legal limitations do not diminish the seriousness of what this investigation found. The office believes that while criminal law cannot provide justice for all survivors today, the office still has a responsibility to tell the truth of what happened.”
Mansfield man charged for allegedly sexually abusing minors in Haiti while working with ministry
SHREVEPORT — A 23-year-old Louisiana man has been charged in federal court for allegedly engaging in sexual conduct with minors while working with a ministry organization in Haiti.
Court documents say Maylon Foshee, of Mansfield, traveled to Haiti multiple times between 2023 and while working with a ministry organization in Gonaives, a coastal city in Haiti. During that time, he allegedly engaged in sexual conduct with several minor victims under his care, including minors who lived with him or received financial support from him.
Accordring to Grok he worked for Agape Ministries - certainly a Christian ministry, at least in name.
In August, investigators interviewed three minor victims who described incidents of alleged sexual abuse that occurred while Foshee housed or supervised them in Haiti.
Foshee faces up to 30 years in federal prison if convicted, according to the United States Attorney's Office for the Western District of Louisiana and the FBI.
The FBI investigated the case. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Cheyenne Y. Wilson, with assistance from Legal Assistant Amanda Morgan.
The case is part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse.
Victim describes abuse as trial begins for Faith Life Church founders' son
Gary "Tom" Keesee Jr., 38, is on trial for more than 30 felonies in Knox County Common Pleas Court after four women said he sexually abused them when they were children.
Keesee waived his right to a jury trial on Sept. 29 and the case is being heard through a bench trial before Knox County Common Pleas Court Judge Richard Wetzel.
The Licking County Prosecutor's office, which is working as special prosecutors on this case, said Keesee sexually assaulted the four girls, who ranged in age from 6 to 15 years old, between 2002 and 2016. Keesee was 12 at the time the abuse began, according to court records.
Keesee faces 13 counts of rape, 14 of gross sexual imposition and five of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor.
Keesee’s parents are Gary and Drenda Keesee, who founded Faith Life Church in New Albany. Drenda Keesee is a Knox County Commissioner, who helps oversee the sheriff’s office budget. Former Ohio Attorney General David Yost, who oversaw the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation before resigning earlier this year, has said he’s friends with Tom’s parents.
The Licking County Sheriff's office led the investigation.
Is Tom Keesee an opportunist or victim of smear campaign?
On Sept. 30, Licking County Assistant Prosecutor Darcy Cook told Wetzel that Keesee was an "opportunist" who took advantage of moments available to him.
Cook described Tom Keesee as someone who was charming and charismatic while leading programs and events at the church. He was a youth leader there and chief media officer before resigning in August 2024.
“For all intents and purposes, he appeared to be a person of God … but the defendant had a secret, and because of that secret, four girls knew an entirely different Tom,” Cook said.
Keesee’s attorneys argued the allegations against him are a coordinated campaign from people disgruntled with the church. Karena Reusser, one of Keesee's attorneys, told Wetzel that witnesses planned and discussed how to present their accounts to police.
“That campaign had accomplished enormous devastation before any allegation had been tested by law enforcement,” Reusser said.
According to court records, one woman came forward in February 2025 with allegations against Keesee. Others came forward in the following weeks.
Woman testifies Tom Keesee began abusing her when she was 5
Following opening statements, Prosecutor Jenny Wells called one of the alleged victims to the stand as the first witness. The woman, who is now an adult, said Keesee abused her at his home, as well as at other locations in both Knox and Licking Counties.
She testified the abuse began when she was five years old and continued for multiple years. She didn’t report it at the time, testifying that Keesee said he’d get in trouble and didn't want to see that outcome because she looked up to him, she said.
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