The Catholic Church sexual abuse cases are a series of 20th-21st century cases of child sexual abuse crimes (and subsequent cover-ups) committed by Catholic priests, nuns, and members of the Roman Catholic orders. The numerous allegations, investigations, trials and convictions include crimes against boys and girls, some as young as 3 years old, with the majority between the ages of 11 and 14. The accusations began to receive wide publicity in the late 1980s. Many relate to cases in which a figure was accused of abuse for decades; such allegations were frequently made by adults or older youths years after the abuse occurred. Cases have also been brought against members of the Catholic hierarchy who covered up sex abuse allegations, moving allegedly abusive priests to other parishes, where abuse sometimes continued.