KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas Bureau of Investigation said Tuesday that it has received nearly 120 reports of clergy abuse since it launched an investigation into the four Catholic dioceses in Kansas earlier this year.
Since February 2019, the KBI task force received 119 reports from victims who experienced recent or past sexual abuse by clergy members. The reports led the agency to initiate 74 investigations in 33 Kansas counties, the KBI said in a news release.
The KBI did not specify in which counties it has launched the investigations.
Lat fall, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt requested the KBI investigate allegations of sexual misconduct by clergy members. The KBI created a six-member task force and asked Kansas residents to report any instances of sexual abuse, no matter how long ago it occurred or whether it was previously reported.
"The task force expects the investigation to be lengthy," the KBI said in the release.
The agency will continue to take reports of sexual abuse at 1-800-KS-CRIME or by email at clergyabuse@kbi.ks.gov.
