DUBUQUE - Independent auditors were at Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dubuque offices this week, monitoring the archdiocese's compliance with anti-child sexual abuse policies adopted last year by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Auditors completed their work Thursday, said Msgr. James Barta, chancellor of the archdiocese.

"It's part of the program where, with every diocese in the country, they're coming to see how well we are fulfilling the norms the bishops established in Dallas," at a conference in June 2002, Barta said. "They're having an exit interview this afternoon."

The audit is being conducted by the Gavin Group of Boston, headed by William Gavin, an auditor formerly with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Its results will be used in a public report on the progress made in implementing the policies approved by the bishops in June 2002. The church's Office of Child and Youth Protection will write the final report.

Part of the process required the nation's 195 dioceses to complete a survey providing a detailed accounting of all sexual abuse allegations by priests dating back 50 years. The Dubuque archdiocese was the first in Iowa to complete that survey, in June.

Part of this week's auditing process included interviews with victims of sexual abuse by clergy or other archdiocesan personnel.

"An announcement was placed in the diocesan paper (The Witness) that they (auditors) would be here," Barta said. "We have had two victims come and speak with them. Any victim who wanted to, and knew about their presence here, was able to come. I know of two that did."

Since Jan. 1, 2002, the archdiocese has received at least 30 allegations of abuse of minors by a priest, with 25 accusations coming from men and five from women. Of the 19 priests accused, 11 have died, Hanus said. None of the eight remaining are active in the church. The claims of abuse range from 1940 to 1970.

Church leaders have said at least five such allegations involved priests who served at one time or another in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls area, in incidents dating as far back as nearly 50 years.

The Archdiocese of Dubuque adopted a policy regarding priest sexual misconduct under the administration of former Dubuque Archbishop Daniel Kucera in 1993. It provided for the criminal prosecution of priests for sexual misconduct and also leaves them open to lawsuits by their victims and the possibility of civil monetary damages. In 1997, the Rev. Timothy Devenney, then an associate at St. Columbkille Catholic Church in Dubuque, pleaded guilty to fondling several boys and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

The new policy was completed this past June after 10 months of work by an archdiocesan panel, which included among its members prominent local Catholic attorney, Ed Gallagher Jr. of Waterloo. It requires all suspected cases of abuse to be reported to civil authorities, immediate removal from duty of sustainable allegations and provides for counseling, medical assistance and other services to victims.