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Backpedaling. Backsliding. Moving in the wrong direction. Whatever you call it, bishops all across the US are quietly doing this with clergy sex crimes and cover ups.

Twice recently, sports enthusiasts have publicly made a bizarre claim - that those of us who talk about known or suspected sex crimes are really trying to influence football games.

"Once the sale is made, shut up.” That's a fundamental rule of sales that is taught to virtually every aspiring sales person.

Ten years ago tomorrow, Cardinal Bernard Law resigned as head of the Boston Archdiocese after mountains of evidence proved that he repeatedly protected predators, deceived parishes and endangered kids.

Ten years ago, a Boston Globe series put the Catholic abuse and cover up crisis on the front pages of newspapers across the globe. 

Watch closely the language that Catholic officials use when they try to distance themselves from accused clerics. 

Bishops recruit, educate, train, ordain, hire, supervise, and often transfer and protect predator priests. But once allegations surface, top church staff often pretend they’ve never even met the accused. In many church notices, he was “Fr. Smith” on Tuesday, but suddenly, on Wednesday, became “Smith” or “Mr. Smith” the minute child sex abuse allegations arose.

Could there be a more shrewd way for child molesting clerics to avoid getting caught than this: legally changing their names? 

SNAP was invited to testify before the Royal Commission into Sex Abuse convened by Prime Minister Julia Gillard. SNAP President and Founder Barbara Blaine made the 28 hour trip and our Australian leaders Nicky Davis and Mark Fabro all testified not only to their own experiences but also to the scope of the abuse and cover-up by church officials.

A Baptist minister, John Langworthy, faces charges in Mississippi of "gratification of lust." He is accused of molesting at least five kids. 

A grant writer, Margaret Mata had a good job finding funding for the Kansas City diocese. Then she learned that diocesan officials were not telling the truth about the Fr. Shawn Ratigan child porn and cover-up case.