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	State, Men Settle Priest Abuse Suit By Ashbel S. Green The Oregonian July 24, 2007 http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/118524393570570.xml&coll=7 The Oregon Department of Justice has reached a $1 million settlement with more than a dozen men who say a Catholic priest sexually abused them at a state reform school in the 1970s. The agreement settles all legal claims against the Rev. Michael Sprauer, a pastor at MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility from 1972 to 1975. The state additionally has paid more than $1.4 million in outside legal fees to defend Sprauer, who has repeatedly denied molesting boys. Insurance could pick up a significant portion of the price tag. Stephanie Soden, a Justice Department spokeswoman, said insurance should cover all outside legal fees and costs as well as $700,000 of the tentative settlement. Sexual abuse allegations first surfaced in 2003 against Sprauer, who spent 25 years as an Oregon prison chaplain after leaving MacLaren. The Portland Archdiocese paid $600,000 to settle with accusers. In May, three accusers went to trial in Multnomah County against Sprauer and the state, which employed him at MacLaren. Lawyers for the priest and the state accused the men of making up the charges. But jurors found in favor of two of the men, awarding them nearly $1.4 million in damages. A lengthy appeals process was expected, delaying any payment to the plaintiffs and keeping the other accusers from going to trial. The stakes on appeal were high for both sides. A strict reading of state law could have reduced the damages to $100,000 for each plaintiff. On the other hand, the Oregon Supreme Court is weighing a lower court decision that the state's liability caps are unconstitutional. Instead, the state and all 15 accusers settled on a deal that totaled $1,050,000, according to Dan Gatti, the Salem lawyer who represented them. The Justice Department's outside legal fees, which still could rise, included $372,347.99 to Thomas E. Cooney, who represented Sprauer; and $1,036,317.89 to Greener, Banducci and Shoemaker, a Boise-based law firm, Soden said. The lead lawyer from the firm, William C. Tharp, started working on the case when he was an assistant attorney general in Oregon. Tharp later left to work for the private law firm, and Justice Department officials decided it made the most sense to keep him on the case, Soden said. Sprauer, 62, who lives in Salem, has not been allowed to take part in public ministry since the accusations first surfaced. Ashbel (Tony) Green: 503-221-8202; tonygreen@news.oregonian.com
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