PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer
JEREMY ROEBUCK, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
LAST UPDATED: Thursday, August 20, 2015
The Archdiocese of Philadelphia has settled a civil lawsuit brought by an accuser whose testimony helped convict two Catholic priests and a former parish-school teacher on sexual abuse charges, and aided in the unprecedented prosecution of a church administrator for covering up the priests’ crimes.
In filings Tuesday, Common Pleas Court Judge Jacqueline F. Allen said the plaintiff – a 26-year-old man identified only as “Billy Doe” – had “settled any and all claims” against the archdiocese and two former church officials. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
A spokesman for the archdiocese did not return calls for comment Wednesday, nor did lawyers for Doe.
Their agreement – first reported by the legal blog BigTrial.net – is at least the third this year between the church and its accusers.
Previous agreements have contained clauses barring the parties from discussing their deals publicly.
Doe’s story was arguably the most disturbing in a landmark 2011 report by a Philadelphia grand jury outlining decades of clergy sex abuse in the region.
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