By Wilson Ring, Associated Press, 09/23/02

| Complete coverage |  AG'S REPORT Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly released the results of a 16-month investigation into clergy sex abuse in the Boston archdiocese. Download report [PDF, 1.4 MB] (File requires Adobe Acrobat)  TODAY'S GLOBE A new leader reaches out 3 faces in crowd bound in hopeh At BC, students watch with awe O'Malley's homily reveals frank man Near cathedral, voices of protest 'Good priests' moved to tears Text of Archbishop O'Malley's homily Sandwiches, chips were bill of fare An angry protest, and prayers  GRAPHICS The moment of installation Viewer's guide Ceremony TV coverage  Processional O'Malley's vestments O'Malley's coat of arms Cathedral of the Holy Cross  REALVIDEO | NECN.com | Help with video | O'Malley to be installed today Great expectations of O'Malley Video clips require RealPlayer and Windows 98 or higher.  INTERACTIVE FEATURE An interactive timeline of the developing church crisis, featuring photos and audio.   View timeline  IN-DEPTH Boston's new archbishop Bishop Sean Patrick O'Malley has been chosen to succeed Cardinal Law as leader of the archdiocese. Reaction to O'Malley appointment Accused priests are vindicated Three priests have been exonerated after being suspended from their posts over abuse allegations.  CARDINAL BERNARD LAW Coverage of his resignation Career timeline: Priest to cardinal Changing statements on abuse Coverage of his tenure in Boston Photos: Law through the years Boston.com readers' comments  CONTACT SPOTLIGHT If you have information on child abuse by priests, call (617) 929-3208 Or leave a confidential message at this number (617) 929-7483 The Spotlight Team e-mail address is spotlight@globe.com.

MONTPELIER, Vt. -- The Vermont attorney general's office won't file criminal charges against two suspended Roman Catholic priests accused of sexual impropriety with children.

But the investigations are continuing into allegations made last spring against four additional active priests and four more whose names were learned by authorities since the original charges surfaced.

"We have heard some terrible stories," said Attorney General William Sorrell. "It has been heartbreaking to be involved with the interviews with people in their 30s, 40s, and 50s" and hear how the conduct has hurt their lives.

In one of the two cases that won't be prosecuted, the statute of limitations had expired and the state couldn't prove its case, said Sorrell.

In the other a priest had a long-running relationship with a boy that began when the child was a minor, but it didn't turn sexual until the boy was 17, above the age of consent, and therefore legal.

"Neither of the individuals we have completed the investigations against will be charged," Sorrell said at a Montpelier news conference.

Sorrell's office had expected to finish the investigation into allegations against a third priest, but information that surfaced in the past week has kept that case alive, he said.

Those two priests and four others have been suspended from their duties since May.

The state has received allegations against four more active priests, bringing the total number to 10, and about 20 other retired or non-active priests. All of themm are Catholic, except one, bringing the total to about 40. The non-Catholic clergy member was a Methodist, said Cindy McGuire, the chief of the criminal division of the attorney general's office.

Prosecutors have focused their efforts on the cases of the active priests, but the other cases are being investigated as well.

"There is a lot of work yet to be done," Sorrell said. "It will take months and months to get through this."

Sorrell and his attorneys met with Vermont's Roman Catholic Bishop Kenneth Angell and diocesan attorneys on Monday morning to discuss the cases.

In a statement issued Monday afternoon, the diocese said the information learned from the two completed investigations would be shared with the Diocesan Misconduct Review Board. The final decision on the future of the priests will be made by Angell.

"We will begin within one week and hopefully be completed within a few weeks," said the Rev. Wendell Searles, the diocese's vicar general.

Searles said that on the basis of the case outlined by Sorrell, the men should not be priests. "But in all fairness, priests have rights, too. There is a process that has to be followed here. Hopefully, the final decision will be right and good and just."

The state began its investigation last spring after allegations of sexual misconduct by Catholic priests spread across the country. All of the allegations received so far warranted at least some further investigation.

"We haven't found anything suggesting blatantly false allegations," McGuire said.

Sorrell said he held the news conference to update the public on the status of the investigation. He said he didn't expect there would be any additional news conferences unless criminal charges were filed.

"We did tell the diocese we expected to complete our investigations into the other three in a four-to six-week time-frame," Sorrell said.

Sorrell said the names of the four additional active priests have not been shared with the diocese or the priests themselves. He said officials did not believe the priests posed a threat to children or anyone else.

Diocese spokeswoman Gloria Gibson said officials at the diocese knew that allegations had been made against four additional priests. "It would help us if we could know (the names) and maybe start our own investigation," she said.

The allegations go back years, in some cases decades. The allegations against the two priests who won't be charged date to the mid to late 1980s, McGuire said.