Chicago, 24 May 2023 (dpa/MIA) - Hundreds more Catholic clerics abused children in Illinois than were previously reported by church leaders, according to a scathing 700-page report released Tuesday by the Illinois Attorney General’s office following a roughly four-year investigation.

State investigators revealed the names and details of 451 Catholic priests and religious brothers who abused at least 1,997 children across all dioceses in Illinois. Prior to the report, Catholic leaders in Illinois had only publicly listed 103 substantiated child sex abusers, according to the Attorney General’s office.

“These perpetrators may never be held accountable in a court of law, but by naming them here, the intention is to provide a public accounting and a measure of healing to survivors who have long suffered in silence,” Attorney General Kwame Raoul said in a news release.

The release added that the survivors’ accounts “demonstrate a troubling pattern of the church failing to support survivors, ignoring or covering up reports of abuse, and survivors being revictimized by the church when they came forward to report being abused.”