Warning: This story contains explicit descriptions of sexual assault. Investigators digging into child sex abuse in Colorado’s three Catholic dioceses have identified an additional 46 victims dating back to 1950 and nine more abusive priests, including an iconic Denver advocate for the homeless and poor. The new revelations were released Tuesday by the Colorado Attorney […]
Cynthia Coffman
Posted inNews
Colorado’s Catholic dioceses paid $6.68 million to 73 survivors of priest abuse
Colorado’s three Catholic dioceses have paid $6.68 million to 73 survivors of sexual abuse by priests. That’s according to an update Friday from the managers of the state’s Independent Reconciliation and Reparations Program, which fielded claims from survivors and determined their credibility and eligibility for compensation, and how much money each should be given by […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, News, Politics and Government
The Colorado attorney general’s review of Elijah McClain’s death is unprecedented. Here’s how it may go.
Gov. Jared Polis’ decision to appoint Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser as special prosecutor to review the death last year of Elijah McClain after an encounter with Aurora police and paramedics is extraordinary. In fact, it’s so unusual that experts can’t remember a similar instance in which a district attorney’s decision-making received a second look […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, News, Politics and Government
Colorado’s former attorney general wanted grand jury investigation of priest abuse scandal — but didn’t get it
Former Colorado Attorney General Cynthia Coffman says she would have preferred a criminal investigation of child sex abuse in the state’s three Catholic dioceses and that she talked to former Gov. John Hickenlooper about the prospect of launching one. But as Coffman worked to find a way last year to account for priests’ behavior, she […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Nicolais: More Republicans are concluding that equality is a political hill worth dying on
About a week ago, former Colorado Attorney General Cynthia Coffman stood before a ballroom full of LGBTQ activists and accepted an Ally Award from One Colorado. Despite the recognition, it occurred to me that very few people in attendance truly understood the enormity of the sacrifice that propelled Coffman to that stage. If asked, most […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, News, Politics and Government
Democrat attorneys general are among Trump’s largest roadblocks. Where does Colorado’s Phil Weiser fit in?
Minutes after a ceremony swearing him into office in January, Attorney General Phil Weiser was swarmed in the Colorado Supreme Court chambers by a group of reporters who wanted to know what would be his first actions as the state’s chief law enforcement officer. He rattled off a list of lawsuits he was planning to […]
Posted inNews, Politics and Government
Colorado attorney general joins lawsuit against Trump administration to uphold DACA
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser on Thursday announced that he is joining other states in a lawsuit against the Trump administration seeking to uphold an Obama-era program granting deportation protections to young immigrants. The Democrat’s move to protect the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program is his latest in a list of legal challenges aimed […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, News
Here is why Colorado didn’t convene a grand jury to investigate priest abuse as Pennsylvania did
With the announcement Tuesday that the Catholic church in Colorado will voluntarily participate in an independent investigation into sexual abuse by its priests comes a big question: Why didn’t the state convene a grand jury to investigate, as Pennsylvania did? The answer has to do with the limited powers Colorado’s attorney general has to look […]
Posted inColoradans, Crime and Courts, News
Colorado’s Catholic churches will open records to independent investigator in effort to account for alleged sex abuse
The three Catholic dioceses of Colorado will open their records to an independent investigator in an effort to provide a full accounting of sexual abuse of children by priests through the decades, part of a national reckoning for the church after an explosive grand jury report last year in Pennsylvania. The investigator will compile and […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, News
Man exonerated in rape case will receive nearly $2 million after Colorado attorney general drops compensation challenge
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said Thursday he will not oppose Clarence Moses-EL’s claim for compensation after spending 28 years in prison for a crime that he was acquitted of in 2015, opening the door for Moses-EL to receive almost $2 million from the state. Weiser, a Democrat who took office in January, had earlier […]