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Catholic Diocese of Lansing searched after warrant attained

Posted at 5:33 AM, Oct 04, 2018
and last updated 2018-10-04 05:33:59-04

The Michigan Attorney General's Office executed a search warrant at the Catholic Diocese of Lansing.

Police seized records from all of Michigan's Catholic dioceses after serving search warrants on Wednesday.

The records were collected about two weeks after Attorney General Bill Schuette announced his office was leading the state investigation of sexual abuse by priests.

That investigation was launched after a Pennsylvania grand jury said more than 1,000 children have been sexually abused by priests there since the 1940s.

The Diocese of Lansing says it fully cooperated in the execution of Wednesday's search warrant related to the investigation.

In a statement posted on its website, the Diocese of Lansing says “The Diocese of Lansing welcomes a review of our handling of abuse cases by Michigan’s Attorney General. We are confident in our processes. We have and will continue to reach out to law enforcement with these matters.”

The statement adds "We will continue to assist in the Attorney General’s investigation in any manner they request. We know of no one active in ministry in our diocese who has abused a child."

Bishop Earl Boyea had previously said as far as the Diocese knows now, all clergy members who have been found to have abused minors are either deceased or permanently removed from the ministry.

Bishop Boyea also announced the Diocese would hire an outside agency to review its handling of sexual abuse allegations of minors.

Bishop Boyea said the Diocese would make public the names of those who abused minors.