WASHINGTON (CNS) – The annual audit of diocesan compliance with the U.S. Catholic Church’s “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People” found a drop in the number of allegations, number of victims and number of offenders reported in 2012.

Georgetown University-based Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, which gathered data for the report, found “the fewest allegations and victims reported since the data collection for the annual reports began in 2004.”

Most allegations reported last year were from the 1970s and 1980s with many of the alleged offenders already deceased or removed from active ministry.

StoneBridge Business Partners, which conducts the audits, said law enforcement found six credible cases among 34 allegations of abuse of minors in 2012. The credibility of 15 of the allegations was still under investigation. Law enforcement officials found 12 allegations to be unfounded or unable to be proven, and one was a boundary violation.

Almost all dioceses were found compliant with the audit. Three dioceses were found to be noncompliant with one article of the charter. The Diocese of Lake Charles, La., was cited since its review board had not met in several years. The Diocese of Tulsa, Okla., was listed because auditors could not determine if parishes provided safe environment training to religious education students and volunteer teachers. The Diocese of Baker, Ore., also was cited because students did not receive safe environment training while a new program was being developed, but the training has now resumed.

The annual report has two parts. The first is the compliance report of StoneBridge – based in Rochester, N.Y. – which conducted on-site audits of 71 dioceses and eparchies and reviewed documentation submitted by 118 others. The Diocese of Lincoln, Neb., and five Eastern-rite dioceses, known as eparchies, refused to be audited, as they had in past years. Under canon law, dioceses and eparchies cannot be required to participate in the audit, but it is strongly recommended.

Al Notzon III, chairman of the National Review Board, which oversees the audits, said in the introduction to the report that it is his understanding “all of the dioceses will be included in next year’s audit.”

“We need to work with each of the eparchies to see how they can be included in the audit so that there will be 100 percent compliance with the audit process,” he added.