MINNESOTA
Star Tribune
By Emma Nelson Star Tribune AUGUST 31, 2015
Bob Rich was in his 20s when he won an $850,000 settlement from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis — compensation for years of sexual abuse at the hands of the Rev. Robert Michael Thurner.
Rich and his family were hopeful the lawsuit, settled in 1992, would bring closure. But within four years, the money was gone. Some Rich gave away. Some went to a California beach house and a Porsche. Some he used to fuel a cocaine habit — an effort, he said, to ease the pain.
More than 20 years later, hundreds of survivors of clergy sexual abuse have filed claims against the archdiocese. Many were urged forward by the 2013 Minnesota Child Victims Act, which extended the statute of limitations for civil claims in child sex abuse cases.
Unlike Rich, these survivors won’t file suit. Instead, the assets of the archdiocese, which filed for Chap. 11 bankruptcy in January, will be divvied up among them. And settlements are unlikely to reach the amount that Rich’s did.
In 2004, 171 victims in the Portland archdiocese split $90 million. In August, negotiations in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee led to a $21 million settlement for 330 victims out of more than 500 who filed claims. In the Twin Cities, the archdiocese’s assets are estimated between $10 million and $50 million and more than 400 people have filed claims.
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