Catholic Church compensation fund for N.J. victims opens this weekend

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
WHYY Radio

June 14, 2019

By Joe Hernandez

A compensation fund for New Jersey victims of sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church will begin accepting claims on Saturday.

The first-of-its-kind fund in the Garden State will offer financial settlements to survivors of clergy sex abuse and comes amid an investigation by state Attorney General Gurbir Grewal into possible sexual abuse and cover-ups in the Catholic Church.

“Some survivors are really intimidated by a court proceeding process. You have to really think about the traumatic impact this sort of institutional abuse has had on someone,” said Patricia Teffenhart, executive director of the New Jersey Coalition Against Sexual Assault.

“On the other hand, not all survivors will want to go back to the institution that caused them harm,” she added.

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