ILLINOIS
Chicago Tribune

By Christy Gutowski
Chicago Tribune

The Diocese of Joliet agreed to pay a $4.14 million settlement to 14 men who said their childhood priests molested them decades ago while assigned to various suburban churches, plaintiff attorneys announced Tuesday.

The five priests involved in the settlement were previously identified by the diocese as having had at least one substantiated allegation of sexual abuse. But the settlement revealed new allegations with more victims.

Four of the 14 men had filed a lawsuit, while the others were part of out-of-court negotiations. The alleged acts occurred in the 1960s through the 1980s.

One of the newly named victims, Steve Janik, a consultant from Wheaton, said he was repeatedly abused by Rev. James Nowak during a three-year period beginning in the 1960s when he was 12 years old and attended Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Lombard.

Nowak, 77, who is…