Diocese announces compensation plan for sex abuse survivors

By Anthony O'reilly
Queens Chronicle
June 22, 2017

http://www.qchron.com/editions/diocese-announces-compensation-plan-for-sex-abuse-survivors/article_2eff1f48-5761-11e7-8025-c7e514611f19.html

The Diocese of Brooklyn on Thursday announced a program to compensate survivors of sexual abuse committed by clergy members.

“I am well aware that no amount of money will ever heal the scars of abuse, but this compensation program is a concrete expression of our contrition and our desire to make amends,” Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, head of the diocese, said in a statement.

The program, called The Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program, will be administered by attorneys Kenneth Feinberg and Camille Biros — both of whom have years of experience in overseeing settlements, the former with the Department of Justice.

Both will have "total independence in determining compensation for survivors," according to the diocese.

An Independent Oversight Committee has also been established — made up of retired NYPD First Deputy Commissioner Joseph Dunne, retired state Supreme Court Justice Joseph Golia and American Psychiatric Association Queens Chapter President Dr. Barbara Ponieman — the panel will review the program's protocols and oversee its implantation but cannot overturn decisions made by Feinberg and Birosm, the diocese said.

The diocese states donations by parishioners and other fundraising campaigns will not be used to fund the compensation program — instead, it will take out a loan to pay for the unspecified cost.

The announcement comes days after Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan (R-Suffolk) said his chamber would not take up a vote on the Child Victims Act — which would allow sexual abuse survivors to bring civil court cases against clergy up until their 50th birthday and felony cases until their 28th. Right now, they must do so by their 23rd.

Former Assemblywoman Marge Markey sponsored the bil in the lower chamber for years and last June claimed DiMarzio offered her $5,000 in 2007 to drop the bill — a claim the bishop denied.

Markey caught flack in Maspeth for carrying the bill and was labeled "anti-Catholic" by some, including Tony Nunziato — who challenged her and now-Assemblyman Brian Barnwell (D-Maspeth), who defeated the former longtime legislator in last year's Democratic primary.