Report: Weakland shredded abuse reports

MILWAUKEE, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- Former Milwaukee Archbishop Rembert Weakland shredded reports containing allegations of sexual abuse by priests, a court document reveals.

Weakland allegedly admitted in a 1993 deposition that he routinely destroyed weekly reports containing the allegations, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Thursday.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests released a partial transcript of the deposition to Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm.

The prosecutor said he would review the documents to determine if they contain any possible criminal violations.

The deposition was discovered as part of a series of civil fraud lawsuits filed against the Milwaukee archdiocese, the Journal Sentinel reported.

According to the transcript, Weakland admitted shredding the weekly reports to avoid keeping them in his office. The archbishop maintained in the deposition he would remember important information from the reports to pass such information along to the vicar.

SNAP Midwest Director Peter Isley told the Journal Sentinel his group will ask Archbishop-designate Jerome Listecki to censure those who allegedly covered up acts of sexual abuse by clergy members.

Weakland, 82, was archbishop from 1977 to 2002.