​Methodology

Inclusion

These are cases involving a “member of the clergy” (bishops, priests, deacons, monastics, teachers, administrators, staff members or volunteers) within any of the Orthodox Church jurisdictions accused of engaging in sexual harassment, sexual assault, sexual misconduct, stalking, violations of policies, retaliation when accused of sexual misconduct, and similar violations, and where:

1. The accused member of the clergy resigned, retired, or died before the Church institution could complete an investigation into sexual harassment, sexual assault, sexual misconduct, stalking, violations of policies, or similar violations; and/or

2. A legal complaint was filed with the court that sexual harassment, sexual assault, sexual misconduct, stalking, violations of policies, or similar violations had occurred, with or without legal punishment (criminal) or payment (civil).

3. A member of the clergy accused of sexual harassment, sexual assault, sexual misconduct, stalking, violations of policies, and/or similar violations or an institution settled with the victim-survivor making the accusation, often with a binding confidentiality agreement and no admissions; and/or

4. An institution found a member of the clergy guilty of sexual harassment, sexual assault, sexual misconduct, stalking, violations of policies, or similar violations; and/or

5. A Church institution fired/defrocked/transferred a member of the clergy in response to an allegation of sexual harassment, sexual assault, sexual misconduct, stalking, violations of policies, or similar violations; and/or

6. There is an admission on the part of the accused member of the clergy regarding sexual harassment, sexual assault, sexual misconduct, stalking, violations of policies, or similar violations.

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Search

ChatGPT 4o was employed as a tool to generate effective search terms for finding Orthodox clergy abuse cases, especially because they are often scattered across news sites, legal filings, and survivor blogs rather than collected in one place. Below are general examples of search terms that were plugged into Google (or news databases, legal dockets, etc). Combinations of these search terms were also used (e.g., “Orthodox priest inappropriate relationship”, “Orthodox bishop affair allegations”, “Orthodox priest affair”).

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General Search Terms

• Orthodox Church sexual abuse

• Orthodox clergy sexual abuse

• Orthodox priest sexual misconduct

• Orthodox priest “affair”

• Orthodox bishop sexual abuse allegations

• Orthodox bishop “affair”

• Orthodox Church “affair” scandal

• Orthodox Church abuse scandal

• Orthodox Church sex scandal

• Orthodox Church abuse lawsuit

• Orthodox Church sexual assault case

• Orthodox monk sexual abuse

• Orthodox monk sexual “affair”

• Orthodox deacon sexual misconduct

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Jurisdiction-Specific Terms

• Greek Orthodox priest sexual abuse and/or “affair”

• Russian Orthodox priest sexual abuse and/or “affair”

• Serbian Orthodox Church abuse scandal and/or “affair”

• Romanian Orthodox Church sexual misconduct and/or “affair”

• Antiochian Orthodox clergy abuse and/or “affair”

• Orthodox Church in America sexual abuse cases and/or “affair”

• Ukrainian Orthodox sexual misconduct and/or “affair”

• Coptic Orthodox priest abuse and/or “affair”

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Legal & Court Terms

• Orthodox Church sexual abuse lawsuit

• Orthodox priest indicted sexual abuse

• Orthodox bishop charged sexual misconduct

• Orthodox Church settlement sexual abuse

• Orthodox priest arrested sex crimes

• Orthodox clergy civil complaint sexual misconduct

• Orthodox Church sexual abuse court documents

• Orthodox priest criminal charges sexual assault

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Victim-Advocacy & News Terms

• SNAP Orthodox Church sexual abuse

• Orthodox sexual abuse survivors

• Orthodox Church clergy abuse investigation

• Orthodox sex abuse grand jury report

• Orthodox Church sexual abuse investigation report

• Orthodox Church cover-up sexual abuse

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Combined Names & Locations

• “Fr. [Name] Orthodox sexual abuse”

• “Metropolitan [Name] abuse allegations”

• “Archdiocese of [City] Orthodox clergy abuse”

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Legal Databases

• PACER (U.S. federal courts)

• State court dockets (often searchable online)

• Justia.com for case summaries

• Case portal