VERMONT
Burlington Free Press
Written by
Sam Hemingway
Free Press Staff Writer
The state’s Roman Catholic diocese agreed Wednesday to settle 11 priest sexual abuse cases moments before a trial on one of the cases was set to get underway today at U.S. District Court in Burlington.
“We settled it,” Jerome O’Neill, the lead attorney for the alleged victims in the cases, said outside the courtroom. “It was a negotiation that had been going on for a long time and the diocese this morning accepted our demand and agreed to pay it.”
O’Neill and Tom McCormick, a lawyer for the diocese, declined to disclose the settlement amount. McCormick said the settlement was approved after the diocese reached an agreement settling a separate lawsuit with its insurer.
“The bishop, in consultation with his board of advisors, authorized the settlement,” McCormick said later Wednesday morning.
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