Diocese program offers sex abuse victim $35,000 to settle claim

BUFFALO (NY)
Buffalo News

December 3, 2018

By Jay Tokasz

Administrators of a program to compensate childhood victims of clergy sex abuse have made at least one settlement offer – to a man who accused a Buffalo Diocese priest of molesting him in a church rectory.

The man was offered $35,000 to settle his abuse claim and agree to not sue the Buffalo Diocese, said the man’s attorney, Kevin Stocker.

Stocker described the offer as insulting.

“It’s tough to put a value on wrecking peoples’ lives and wrecking their families’ lives, but I know it’s not $35,000,” Stocker said.

It appears to be one of the first offers made. The News spoke last week with more than a dozen victims and attorneys who represent victims – all of whom said they had not yet received offers. Some victims and attorneys said they had yet to meet with the administrators of the program, and they expressed frustration over how long the process is taking.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.