The number of allegations of sexual abuse against Catholic clergy dropped 9 percent in 2006, according to a survey of U.S. dioceses and religious orders released in mid-April

The number of allegations of sexual abuse against Catholic clergy dropped 9 percent in 2006, according to a survey of U.S. dioceses and religious orders released in mid-April. While 70 percent of the 714 allegations reported last year occurred between 1960 and 1984, at least 17 cases occurred in 2006--a slight increase from the 13 incidents that were reported for 2005, according to data from the U.S.

Conference of Catholic Bishops. "This is a sobering report," said Bishop Gregory Aymond of Austin, Texas, chair of the Bishops' Committee for the Protection of Children and Young People. "The decline in reported cases is good. Most allegations were for behavior which took places decades ago, but the fact that there are any recent cases at all is very disconcerting."

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