Catholic Church OK’d $11M in settlements to NJ abuse victims, but 400 claims await decisions

WOODLAND PARK (NJ)
NorthJersey.com

February 10, 2020

By Deena Yellin

The Catholic Church in New Jersey has promised $11 million to victims of clergy abuse thus far through its compensation fund, but there are at least 460 more claims to process and administrators say it could take several months to make determinations on all of them.

More than 560 people applied for settlements from the New Jersey Independent Victim Compensation Program, which was established by the state’s five Catholic dioceses to compensate victims without their having to go to court.

The 8-month-old program is now closed to new requests, but victims who already started applications have until Feb. 15 to complete them.

New Jersey suspended its statute of limitations for sex abuse cases on Dec. 1, spawning a wave of lawsuits against the dioceses. Victims who accept the compensation fund’s cash settlements forfeit their right to sue, but they also avoid the potentially painful, drawn-out process of litigation, the church argues.

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