IOWA
WCF Courier
The clergy sex abuse issue had been pretty quiet in Northeast Iowa for several years.
Then attorneys and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dubuque announced a new out-of-court settlement with victims last week.
The archdiocese has paid $5.2 million to 26 victims of clergy sex abuse — the fourth such settlement in nine years, but the first since 2008.
It involves 10 priests in incidents alleged to have occurred from the late 1940s through the 1970s, but include several priests and incidents in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls area. None of the accused clergy currently work as priests and most are dead. Archdiocesan officials have said the number of new claims has tapered off significantly in recent years.
Waterloo attorney Chad Swanson of the Dutton law firm worked through the archdiocese over several years to settle the claims.
“We’ve been able to foster a lot of healing for a lot of folks,” Swanson said. “I think it’s been a long time coming, particularly with this latest group.”
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