TEXAS
Beaumont Enterprise
By Tim Monzingo
Published 8:50 am, Friday, December 13, 2013
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Beaumont said Thursday it settled a lawsuit filed by six plaintiffs alleging sexual abuse by a priest over three decades because it was in the best interests of all involved, even though the church had “valid defenses to the claims.”
The diocese attorney and the Dallas-based attorney representing the plaintiffs reached a settlement in the case Wednesday, more than a year after the suit was filed. The amount of the settlement was not disclosed at the plaintiffs’ request.
The suit alleged that the Rev. Ronald Bollich abused six men, boys at the time, beginning in the mid-1970s. Bollich, who died in April 1996, worked for the diocese for about 30 years.
“At the time of the settlement, the court was considering motions on behalf of the diocese that could have resulted in the dismissal of the case,” according to a statement by Cashiola and Bean, the Beaumont law firm representing the diocese in the case. “The attorney for the diocese continues to advise that we had valid defenses to all the plaintiff’s claims.”
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