Andrea Campbell shares she, too, is a survivor of childhood sexual abuse after releasing clergy report

Attorney General Andrea Campbell had just delivered findings from a report on previously undisclosed child sexual abuse perpetrated by the Catholic clergy — adding more horrific stories and disconcerting numbers to one of the darkest, most painful subjects in Massachusetts history.

Then, the state’s highest law enforcement official issued one last startling revelation: She, too, is a survivor of childhood sexual abuse.

“For me to stand up here, it would be absolutely inauthentic, and inauthentic to my faith, to not share that I am a survivor of childhood abuse,” she said, adding it was “not at the hands of the church, but at the hands of a relative.”

While she did not disclose other details, including the identity of her abuser or when it occurred, Campbell said she decided to come forward after her office had for years investigated the clergy and after hearing firsthand the trauma other victims suffered.

“Frankly, my faith has allowed me to overcome that,” said Campbell, 44.

The first-term attorney general disclosed that abuse at a news conference Wednesday addressing an investigation from her office that found nearly 1,000 children had been abused by hundreds of clergy members across three Catholic dioceses.

Producing the 200-plus-page report, she said, was a “very difficult investigation for every team member that was a part of it.” Her office reviewed more than 300,000 pages of records and interviewed more than 100 people since 2019, Campbell said, speaking with survivors and their attorneys, clergy members, and experts in child sex abuse, among others.

AG probe finds abuses in Catholic dioceses across Massachusetts

A state investigation found that more than 270 Catholic clerics abused nearly 1,000 children in Fall River, Springfield, and Worcester over a century. (Video by Danielle Dubois/Globe Staff. Photo by Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff.)

Campbell is not the only Massachusetts official to disclose they have been the victim of abuse. In attendance Wednesday were state Senator Joan Lovely and state Representative John Lawn, both of whom have said they, too, endured childhood sexual abuse and have pushed legislation to address it.

Lawn, a Watertown Democrat, filed legislation to eliminate the state’s civil statute of limitations on childhood sexual abuse. The House passed a version of that proposal as part of a wider primary care bill, which is in closed-door negotiations between legislative leaders.

“Trauma does not operate on a legal timeline,” Lawn wrote in a Globe op-ed in May. “It can take years to recognize what happened, decades to speak it aloud, and a lifetime to fully understand the harm — not only inflicted by abusers but also enabled by the institutions around them.”

Representative John Lawn and Senator Joan Lovely listened during the news conference Wednesday.Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff

Lovely, meanwhile, called the release of the report an “incredibly powerful moment” that could help further the Legislature’s work on the issue. The issue, the Salem Democrat said, is “personal.”

“As the attorney general has revealed her past, it brings that compassion that really can help survivors,” said Lovely.

The first woman of color to hold statewide office in Massachusetts, Campbell has regularly talked about the tragedies and family struggles that have marked her personal life while in the public eye.

Her father was arrested when she was just months old; her mother was killed in a car accident months later. She lived with a mix of relatives and foster parents for years before her father returned when she was 8. Her twin brother, Andre, faced criminal charges in multiple cases and died in custody before age 30. Her estranged brother, Alvin, was convicted of a string of rapes and sentenced this year to life in prison.

Campbell, meanwhile, graduated from Princeton University, and then UCLA Law School. She ultimately became a Boston city councilor, ran for mayor in 2021, and then won the attorney general’s office four years ago.

Throughout, she has been open about her religious conviction, referencing it in many ways: Campbell has long spoken of turning to gospel music or her Bible in hard times, noting she prays daily, and has said she has “an unwavering faith in a God who will not only see me through, but also this Commonwealth.”

“We can respect faith communities while also demanding accountability from the very institutions we give our trust,” Campbell said. “This investigation was not about demonizing a faith or a church. Rather, it was about seeking justice, a value, and a promise our faith and the God I serve so deeply reflects.”

Campbell added Wednesday that others in her office, too, came forward about their own past trauma after “looking at the revelation of this report.” It made the work, she said, “personal for so many folks on a deeper level, and for many, that can be very traumatic.”

Nonetheless, she stressed Wednesday that the work of her office isn’t done and encouraged others to come forward and share any allegations of abuse.

“To survivors whose courage made this investigation possible, we not only hear you and see you, we absolutely love you,” Campbell said. “I will stand in my faith every single day, standing for what it actually means and what it actually stands for and should demonstrate: Love, connection, and justice.”