WSHINGTON
National Catholic Reporter
Dan Morris-Young | Dec. 16, 2016
A woman who won a $950,000 judgment against the Seattle archdiocese last month for negligence related to her 1983 rape by a janitor at a Seattle Catholic grade school, has issued a public rebuke of how the settlement was portrayed to parishioners.
Referred to as “A.W.” to protect her identity, the woman was a 10-year-old fifth grader at the time of the attack at St. John the Evangelist School.
In a Dec. 14 statement released through her attorneys, the victim charges that a message to St. John parishioners and school families was misleading and “makes it sound like my claim had no merit.”
A Nov. 17 “message to the parish and the school” signed by Fr. Crispin Okoth, pastor, and Bernadette O’Leary, principal, expressed regret for the incident, hope for the victim’s healing, and assurance that the school is committed to “a safe environment for all children in our care.”
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