The clergy abuse archive — documenting abuse and cover-ups in America's churches and Christian schools. Every denomination. One standard.
This archive documents sexual-abuse cases and institutional cover-ups by clergy and church-run schools — evangelical, independent Baptist, Catholic, and every other denomination — built only from court records and public sources. Its premise is simple: non-Catholic churches and Christian schools largely escape the scrutiny the Catholic Church receives. This archive applies one standard to all of them.
Every case file separates three kinds of material and never blurs them: what a court has proven, what named sources allege, and what the public record still leaves unanswered. The full rules are on the Standards page.
Flagship case · Case No. 1
A fifth-grade teacher served 29 years at a church-run school in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Convicted at trial of sexually abusing a first-grader, he is serving 20 to 40 years and is classified a lifetime sexually violent predator. Former students allege a wider, decades-long pattern the institution never answered for. The court record, the allegations, and the unanswered questions — kept separate, as always.
Tier 1 · Court-proven
Facts taken from dockets, verdicts, sentences, and official releases. Each one is sourced, and the docket controls when sources disagree.
Tier 2 · Attributed allegations
Claims by named people or named publications — petitions, reviews, reporting. Always attributed, always labeled as allegations, never presented as findings.
Tier 3 · Open questions
Gaps in the public record, stated as questions. When records arrive, questions move tiers — or get answered and closed, in public.
Survivors and witnesses can tell their story through the archive's intake form. You choose how it may be used: published with your name, published anonymously, or recorded and never published. Nothing is published outside the choice you make.
Tell your story How the intake works
If a child is in danger now, call 911. To report suspected child abuse in Pennsylvania, call ChildLine at 1-800-932-0313.
One file per case: the court record, the institution, the allegations, the open questions, and a living log of records requested and answered — or not answered.
Schools, churches, and dioceses as the record documents them. Distinct institutions are never merged, however similar their names.
The recurring institutional behaviors this archive tracks across denominations — transfers instead of reports, prayer instead of police, silence instead of answers.