NEW JERSEY
The Record
SATURDAY MAY 25, 2013
BY STEPHANIE AKIN AND ABBOTT KOLOFF
STAFF WRITERS
THE RECORD
At least 13 people who say they were sexually abused while attending Bergen Catholic High School years ago have filed claims in federal court to be part of a $16.5 million settlement agreement reached with the order that runs the school, an attorney said Friday.
The Christian Brothers of Ireland, an order that runs schools across North America, including Bergen Catholic, agreed to the settlement as part of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in federal court. Officials with the order said they filed for bankruptcy two years ago because they were operating at a significant loss due to the legal costs related to the settlements of abuse cases. The settlement was made public on Thursday.
In response to the settlement, several people who said they have been abused by Catholic priests gathered outside a house in Elizabeth belonging to the brotherhood Friday morning. Among them was a Ramsey resident who said she was abused by a priest from the Christian Brothers order who taught at the high school she attended in New York state decades ago. The woman, who asked that her name not be published, is one of more than 400 people who have filed to be eligible to receive money from the settlement.
A federal judge in White Plains, N.Y., ordered that money be set aside in a trust for abuse victims, including those who never before made a claim.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.