SOUTH CAROLINA
The Post and Courier
Adam Parker
Posted: Friday, April 25, 2014
The Catholic Diocese of Charleston is trying to stick its insurance companies with the bill for millions of dollars in claims paid to nearly 150 people whose lives were damaged by sexually abusive priests – three times the number of victims that was initially reported.
The diocese filed a civil lawsuit in late February demanding that its insurance and indemnity companies reimburse the church for numerous victim payouts it made in connection with a 2007 class-action settlement worth up to $12 million, according to documents obtained by The Post and Courier.
Tucked away in the lawsuit is a list of 148 victims – most called by the pseudonym John or Jane Doe – the type of abuse they endured, the years that abuse occurred, and the individual settlement amounts they received. Those payouts ranged from $13,000 to $425,000, with a total of $11.2 million going to those named on the list.
This is the first time such information has been made public, and it provides a clearer picture of the scope of the sexual abuse crisis that occurred in the diocese over three decades between 1950 and 1980.
Some 79 people – 72 men and seven women – received payments after alleging direct abuse by pedophile priests and other diocesan officials during this time period, according to court documents.
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