AG Nessel Releases 5th Report Related To Clergy Abuse; Says Reports Helped Survivors Heal

(Source: MIRS.news, Published 12/15/2025) Attorney General Dana Nessel on Monday released the fifth report into her department's investigations of alleged clergy sexual abuse, detailing allegations against 51 priests. While no criminal charges will be filed, Nessel said the reports have helped survivors.

Criminal Bureau Chief Danielle Hagaman-Clark, who made headlines prosecuting former Michigan State University doctor Larry Nassar, said the department's reports "represent public awareness" for survivors, who can see in black and white that their offenders have been named and the public is aware, because too often victims are not believed by the parish members dedicated to those clergymen.

"Having a trauma-informed, victim-centered approach has been immeasurably helpful," Nessel agreed as she shared a story of a woman in her 70s who had been victimized by her priest, and whose outlook changed after realizing "someone cared enough to investigate her case."

The 336-page report shows 51 priests connected to the Grand Rapids Diocese were accused of sexual misconduct involving 153 children or adults since Jan. 1, 1950.

Of those 51, 37 are known or presumed to be dead and the remaining 14 are not actively serving the Grand Rapids Diocese.

No criminal charges against any of the priests for the Grand Rapids Diocese will be filed. However, two priests were convicted for child sexual abusive activity and fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct, respectively, before the AG's 2018 investigation began.

Statewide, the AG's office has filed criminal charges in 11 cases, resulting in convictions in nine cases.

Bishop David J. Walkowiak, of the Grand Rapids Diocese, expressed his "deepest and most sincere apology" to the survivors in a press conference Monday afternoon, emphasizing the church's commitment to prevention and support.

Walkowiak, who said the report shows "that the church is not immune to the brokenness that we find in the human condition," said the report also confirms the effectiveness of the 2002 charter for protecting children.

However, he also questioned the content of the AG's report, specifically why deceased clergymen are included, and noted that the report also provides details on consensual relationships between priests and adults.

"While these actions are immoral, they are not in violation of any Michigan law. Including and counting these adult relationships in the report inflates both the number of accused and the number of minor victim survivors of clerical sexual abuse," the Bishop said.

" … How are you able to maintain your good reputation if you're accused after you've died . . . I'm not real sure why we have dead people in the report. You cannot file charges against dead people," Walkowiak added in response to a reporter's question.

Nessel, whose department will release reports on all seven of Michigan's dioceses, said the reports are to acknowledge reports of abuse from victims and to report the department's findings.

The report details the allegations of sexual abuse and other misconduct, including grooming and misuse of authority, against minors and adults.

Monday's report contains information compiled from a tip line, survivor interviews, police investigations and open-source media as well as paper and electronic documents seized from the Grand Rapids Diocese during an October 2018 search warrant and the allegations disclosed by the Diocese.

In total, the tip line has generated 1,228 tips related to abuse, leading to many police investigations, at least 180 victim interviews and more than 285 police reports.

For Grand Rapids, the investigation yielded 105 tips to the tip line – 27 of those were provided directly from the Diocese of Grand Rapids.

Of the 220 boxes of paper documents seized from the Archdiocese and the six dioceses, 60 boxes containing about 150,000 documents were reviewed related to Grand Rapids.

Of the 3.5 million electronic documents seized, 271,975 were reviewed related to Grand Rapids.

Nessel's office has released similar reports for the dioceses in Gaylord, Kalamazoo, Lansing and Marquette. She expects to release a report on the Saginaw Diocese in the spring and on the Detroit Diocese, likely in December 2026.

The report on the Grand Rapids Diocese can be found here.