Associated Press
March 4, 2004

If a grand jury indicts retired Springfield Bishop Thomas Dupre, he would become the first bishop charged in the sex-abuse scandal that erupted in the Roman Catholic church two years ago.

There have been at least a dozen grand jury investigations involving bishops. Four bishops have resigned after being accused of sexual misconduct, including:

_ Milwaukee Archbishop Rembert Weakland, who asked the Vatican to speed up his retirement after it was learned that the archdiocese paid a $450,000 settlement to a man who said Weakland sexually assaulted him.

_ Bishop J. Kendrick Williams of Lexington, Ky., who resigned after he was accused of abusing two minors decades ago - allegations he denied.

_ Bishop Anthony O'Connell of Palm Beach, Fla., who quit after admitting he repeatedly abused an underage student at a Missouri seminary he led.

_ Auxiliary Bishop James McCarthy of New York, who stepped down after admitting to affairs with adult women.

In other cases:

_ In Arizona, investigators said they had enough evidence to indict Bishop Thomas O'Brien of Phoenix on obstruction of justice charges for his handling of molestation claims. But O'Brien avoided criminal charges by signing an agreement last year that called for him to relinquish some control over the day-to-day operations of the diocese.

In New Hampshire, Manchester Bishop John McCormack struck a deal with authorities, acknowledging that the diocese would have been convicted of failing to protect children if prosecutors had gone to court.

USAToday Compilation of Cases - December 2002