WASHINGTON
Seattle Times
By Sara Jean Green
Seattle Times staff reporter
A 63-year-old Sedro-Woolley woman who sued the Seattle Archdiocese over sexual abuse she says she suffered as a child reached a $1.2 million settlement with church officials late Sunday night, days before the civil case was to go to a Whatcom County jury, according to her attorneys.
Jerri Hubbard accused Father Michael Cody of sexually abusing her in the late 1960s and early 1970s when Cody served as pastor of the St. Charles Parish in Burlington, Whatcom County, according to her lawsuit. He was also pastor of Assumption Parish in Bellingham during that time.
The Seattle Times does not typically name alleged victims of sex crimes, but Hubbard agreed to be publicly identified, according to her lawyers.
Hubbard was sexually abused after a psychiatrist diagnosed Cody as a pedophile in 1962, and at that point, church officials knew he had already molested at least eight young girls under the age of 12, Hubbard’s attorneys — Michael Pfau, John W. Murphy and Rand F. Jack — said in a news release Monday.
Archbishop Thomas Connelly sent Cody to treatment but then allowed him to return to the church and transferred him to St. Charles Parish, despite knowing he was a danger to children, Hubbard’s attorneys said.
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