$121.5M settlement in New Mexico clergy sex abuse scandal

Catholic Sexual Abuse

One of the oldest Catholic dioceses in the United States announced a settlement agreement Tuesday to resolve a bankruptcy case in New Mexico that resulted from a clergy sex abuse scandal.

The tentative deal totals $121.5 million and would involve about 375 claimants.

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The proposed settlement comes as the Catholic Church continues to wrestles with a sex abuse and cover-up scandal that has spanned the globe. Some of the allegations in New Mexico date back decades.

The chairman of a creditors committee that negotiated the agreement on behalf of the surviving victims and others said it would hold the Archdiocese of Santa Fe accountable for the abuse and result in one of the largest diocese contributions to a bankruptcy settlement in U.S. history.

It also includes a non-monetary agreement with the Archdiocese to create a public archive of documents regarding the history of the sexual abuse claims,

Chicago archdiocese settles sex abuse suit for $1.2 million

Catholic Sexual Abuse

The Archdiocese of Chicago has agreed to pay $1.2 million to a man who alleged that he was sexually abused when he was 12 years old by a defrocked priest who was convicted of sexually abusing several boys, the man’s attorney announced on Tuesday.

The settlement of the case before a lawsuit was filed was announced in a news release by attorney Lyndsay Markley and marks the latest chapter in the story of Daniel McCormack, one of the most notorious pedophiles in the history of Chicago’s archdiocese.

McCormack, who pleaded guilty in 2007 to sexually abusing five children while he was a priest at St. Agatha’s parish in Chicago, was released from prison last fall and has registered as a sex offender with the Illinois State Police. According to published reports, he was listed at that time as living in Chicago’s Near North neighborhood.

The settlement follows other similar settlements

Jury Awards Man $10 Million After Coach’s Abuse

Catholic Sexual Abuse

Alex Harrison waited a dozen years for one more chance to be believed.

The first time he testified, he was a guilt-ridden college tennis player who had alleged that his revered high school coach had abused him. But the criminal case ended in a mistrial, the coach was a free man, and Harrison — ostracized by his teammates, his friends’ parents and his insular hometown in Marin County, Calif. — descended into anxiety and self-doubt.

By the time Harrison swore to tell the truth last week, circumstances had changed. His former coach, Normandie Burgos, was in prison after being sentenced to 255 years to life for molesting two other tennis pupils. Harrison had become a prosecutor in Southern California, and gone public in The New York Times about his trauma. And now, Harrison was taking the stand in his own civil case against his former school district, accusing it of being negligent.

“I didn’t understand how to reconcile who he was with what he had done,” Harrison told jurors during testimony over two draining days, sometimes breaking down in tears. “At that time, as a kid, I hadn’t been a prosecutor. I hadn’t been an adult. I didn’t have life experience like I do now.”

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It is hard to overstate how much has changed when it comes to reporting sexual abuse in youth sports since Harrison talked to the Mill Valley Police Department in 2006 to warn his community and protect other students, in vain.

Here’s What You Should Do in Case of Abuse by the Clergy

Catholic Sexual Abuse

If you know someone who has been the victim of clergy abuse, or if you experienced this unacceptable violation yourself, know that there are now support groups that help you tell your story.

The legal system is now going after abusive priests, unlike the scenario even a few years back. The church has mandated that all sexual abuse allegations be reported to law enforcement agencies. It is now a lot easier for victims to be heard and get their abusers to be held accountable.

Read on to know how you can deal with abuse by a clergy member.

Report the Incident

The first thing anyone should do after being a victim of clergy abuse is to report it to a law enforcement agency. They also need to ask for medical care, which includes getting access to resources for mental health issues as well.

Many people are frightened to report such

Archdiocese of Seattle settles 2 sex abuse claims for $375,000

Catholic Sexual Abuse

The Archdiocese of Seattle said Thursday it will pay $375,000 to settle two separate claims of sexual abuse in the 1970s and 1980s.

The Roman Catholic archdiocese said in a news release that it settled a case involving allegations of childhood sexual abuse in the early to mid-1970s by David Pearson, a volunteer at St. Joseph Parish in Issaquah. Pearson has died.

The archdiocese also said it settled a case involving an allegation of sexual abuse by Father Paul Conn in about 1987 when he served at Queen of Angels Parish in Port Angeles.

Conn served as a parochial vicar at Queen of Angels from 1985 until 1988, the news release said. In 1988, the archdiocese said it learned of sexual abuse allegations and passed