Archdiocese of Los Angeles agrees to pay $880 million to victims of clergy sexual abuse - ABC News
By: ABC News
the settlement should have been for $1.353 billion, plus all plaintiffs attorney fees...
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles has agreed to pay $880 million to victims of clergy sexual abuse dating back decades.
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles has agreed to pay $880 million to victims of clergy sexual abuse dating back decades, in what an attorney said was the largest single child sex abuse settlement with a Catholic archdiocese, it was announced Wednesday.
After the announcement of the agreement in principle, Archbishop Jose H. Gomez said in a statement, "I am sorry for every one of these incidents, from the bottom of my heart."
"My hope is that this settlement will provide some measure of healing for what these men and women have suffered," the archbishop added. "I believe that we have come to a resolution of these claims that will provide just compensation to the survivor-victims of these past abuses."
Attorneys for 1,353 people who allege that they suffered horrific abuse at the hands of local Catholic priests reached the settlement after months of negotiations with the archdiocese, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The agreement caps a quarter-century of litigation against the most populous archdiocese in the United States.
Attorneys in the Plaintiffs' Liaison Committee said in a joint statement, "While there is no amount of money that can replace what was taken from these 1,353 brave individuals who have suffered in silence for decades, there is justice in accountability."
Under the settlement, the plaintiffs will engage in a process— that will not involve the archdiocese — to allocate the settlement amount among the participants.
The archdiocese has previously paid $740 million to victims in various settlements and had pledged to better protect its church members, so this settlement would put the total payout at more than $1.5 billion, the Times said.
Attorney Morgan Stewart, who led the negotiations, said in a statement that the settlement is the largest single child sex abuse settlement with a Catholic archdiocese.
"These survivors have suffered for decades in the aftermath of the abuse. Dozens of the survivors have died. They are aging, and many of those with knowledge of the abuse within the church are too. It was time to get this resolved," Stewart told the Times.
The settlement will be funded by archdiocese investments, accumulated reserves, bank financing, and other assets. According to the archdiocese, certain religious orders and others named in the litigation will also cover some of the cost of the settlement, the Times said.
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... while all the other guilty archdiocese' sprint to their closest bankruptcy court
Thank goodness that the church has a vow of poverty. /s
pedophile central found guilty again
I heard on NPR that the archdiocese has to provide the court the church files and names of the clergy offenders ...
uh oh ...
seems like their bibles are missing a few chapters if some mackerel snapper madrasas have a billion in assets ...
Very few of the offenders have ever had to face any type on punishment.
if they really thought there was anything to their religion, they wouldn't have done it ...
Just think if the RCC had used all of the monies spent on settlements, lawyers et al and was spent on doing good for kids.
For the RCC to have the money they have used on these crimes is outrageous to start with.
those pistachio looking hats and embroidered moo moos must be expensive ...