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Boston archdiocese to settle with 88 abuse victims

Posted on: Thursday, 9 March 2006, 17:32 CST

BOSTON (Reuters) - The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston on Thursday said 88 people will settle claims they were sexually abused by priests, agreeing to a much smaller payout than a first group of abuse victims received.

Kelly Lynch, a spokeswoman for the archdiocese, said the 88 agreed to participate in a first round of arbitration scheduled to take place in March and April. The archdiocese has offered average payments of $75,000 per person.

This settlement will come three years after the Boston Archdiocese, which was at the heart of a national pedophile priest scandal, reached a global settlement with roughly 540 victims for $85 million, paying each person roughly $153,000.

Mitchell Garabedian, a lawyer for the some of the plaintiffs, said under the agreement the church would pay out roughly $6.6 million. Lynch declined to give a number for the proposed settlement.

Both said other suits are still outstanding.

Garabedian said his clients were told they will receive anywhere between $5,000 and $200,000 to settle their claims.

Arbitrators will determine how much each victim will receive based on how serious the claim is, Lynch said.

"This is an important first step in resolving pending claims of sexual abuse of children by priests of the Archdiocese of Boston," Lynch said.

But lawyers for the victims said their clients have been angry since this settlement was first proposed late last year.

"My clients signed the deals because they want to reach closure," Garabedian said. "But they feel insulted by it."

Since the scandal, the Archdiocese of Boston has faced financial pressure which forced it to close more than 60 churches and schools as donations to churches across the United States and in Boston declined.

Source: REUTERS

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