Los Angeles Court to Rule on Church Sex Abuse Settlement, NPR, July 16, 2007

Los Angeles Court to Rule on Church Sex Abuse Settlement

Associated Press, carried in NPR
July 16, 2007

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12002281

NPR.org(Los Angeles CA), July 16, 2007 - The head of the nation's largest Roman Catholic archdiocese apologized for "a terrible sin and crime" against people sexually abused by the Catholic clergy, as attorneys prepared to finalize a $660 million settlement with more than 500 victims in a Los Angeles court on Monday.

Cardinal Roger Mahony and attorneys from both sides are expected to enter a formal settlement agreement with Judge Haley Fromholtz. The deal marks the end of more than five years of negotiations and is by far the largest payout by any diocese since the clergy abuse scandal emerged in Boston in 2002.

Cardinal Roger Mahony apologizes to victims of clergy abuse at a press conference in Los Angeles.
Photo by The AP

The settlement also calls for the release of priests' confidential personnel files after review by a judge.

On Sunday, Mahony apologized to the hundreds of sex abuse victims who will receive a share of the settlement.

"There really is no way to go back and give them that innocence that was taken from them. The one thing I wish I could give the victims….I cannot," he said. "Once again, I apologize to anyone who has been offended, who has been abused. It should not have happened and should not ever happen again."

Mahony said he has met with dozens of victims of clergy abuse in the past 14 months, and those meetings helped him understand the importance of a quick resolution to the case.

The cardinal said the settlement will not have an impact on the archdiocese's core ministry, but said the church will have to sell buildings, use some of its invested funds, and borrow money. He said the archdiocese will not sell any parish properties or parish schools.

The settlement spares the church 15 damaging and costly trials. The first was to begin Monday with the case of Father Clinton Hagenback.

Hagenback, who died in 1987, left a legacy of more than a dozen traumatized boys. Steven Sanchez was one of them. He said the abuse lasted through his teens.

"Things that happened to victims of this perp (perpetrator) were things that would happen to a weak male in prison system," Sanchez said.

It was only in 2001 that Sanchez learned both of his brothers had also been abused.

Sanchez says his treatment was typical. At first, the archdiocese claimed they had no records about Father Hagenback. Then, they said they had 80 pages in his file. Later, they gave his lawyers a 240-page summary. As the case went forward, Sanchez was grilled by attorneys for the archdiocese and the insurance companies.

"I had to go through deposition. Mom, Dad, my little brother, big brother, everyone's been dragged through this again," he said.

J. Michael Hennigan, lead attorney for the archdiocese, said a lot of information had to be obtained from the victims. He said the archdiocese was eager to settle the claims and move on, but their co-defendants were not.

"We would have loved to have done this years ago, but it was going to take this case (getting) ready for trial before the insurance companies had satisfied themselves that they had done all they needed to do to protect their own shareholders," Hennigan said.

Sanchez said the settlement cannot give him back what he lost. "Where can I take that check and cash it in to someplace that can make me 10 years old again?" he asked.