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  Church Pays £330m to Abused Kids
Deal for Victims of Priests

Glasgow Daily Record
July 16, 2007

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/news/tm_headline=church-pays-pound-330m-to-abused-kids&method=full&objectid=19460803&siteid=66633-name_page.html

Los Angeles — The Roman Catholic Church is to pay £330million to more than 500 victims of a sexual abuse scandal.

The payout is by far the largest the church has made to settle sex abuse charges.

The cash is to be handed over by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles to victims who were abused by clergy during the past 70 years.


Lawyers are expected to announce the deal today, the day the first of more than 500 clergy abuse cases was scheduled for jury selection.

Going to trial would have forced Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony and other top church officials to testify publicly about what they knew about priest abuse - and what, if anything, they did to stop it.

The archdiocese and their insurers will pay out to about 500 plaintiffs, which will work out at £600,000 each.

A judge must sign off on the agreement.

David Clohessy, director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said: "It'll definitely be the largest settlement in clergy sex-abuse history.

"It's because church officials have so much to hide."

The archdiocese refused to comment on the deal.

In the past, Cardinal Mahony said of the scandal: "The church accepts responsibility and I accept responsibility."

 
 

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