The Altoona-Johnstown report grabbed a lot of attention in the Pittsburgh area.
It detailed an elaborate cover-up and the failure to report hundreds of allegations of abuse.
Right after this report came out in 2016, the attorney general's office was flooded with calls.
There were so many new allegations coming in, nearly two dozen agents were tasked with handling tip line calls.
In March 2016, then Attorney General Kathleen Kane released the findings of a two-year investigation into the Altoona Johnstown diocese.
The report included words like “heinous” and “monster” to describe the allegations against 50 people.
“Their souls were killed as children,” said Kane. “They lost their childhood.”
RELATED STORIES:
- Clergy sex abuse report to be released -- now what?
- Greensburg bishop: Some names on list of clergy accused of sex abuse 'will shock people'
- Pittsburgh Catholic Diocese plans to release names of clergy members accused of child sex abuse
- Diocese of Harrisburg IDs 71 alleged sex abusers, cites failure of bishops
- Local retired priest pleads guilty to abusing 10-year-old boy
- Greensburg diocese removes priest from assignments after allegation surfaces
The grand jury found a trove of information in a diocese office, calling it a "secret archive."
It included thousands of documents of abuse allegations and letters between leaders and the accused priests.
The two bishops who led the diocese during a 40 year period, Bishops James Hogan and Joseph Adamec, were accused of covering up the abuse with payouts.
Channel 11 spoke to Bishop David Zubik right after the Altoona Johnstown report was released.
One of the most egregious cases was that of Brother Stephen Baker.
He committed suicide in 2013.
But before that, he was accused of molesting more than 100 boys, dozens of whom he worked with at Bishop McCort High School in Johnstown.
Baker and many other accused priests were already dead.
For other cases, the statute of limitations had run out, but the state was able to file charges against three friars it says did nothing to stop Baker from hurting children.
The Pittsburgh diocese held a service of apology inside Saint Paul cathedral the same month the report was released and told Channel 11 the timing was just a coincidence.
Charges were dropped against one of those three friars on the grounds of statute of limitations.
The other two pleaded no contest in May to charges related to covering up the sexual abuse of children by other clergy members.
They were sentenced to five years’ probation.
Cox Media Group