Church’s appeal loss paves way for abuse survivors to sue

AUSTRALIA
The Age

December 18, 2020

By Adam Cooper and Tom Cowie

The Catholic Church has failed in its appeal over a compensation payout to a sexual abuse survivor, and now faces the prospect of being sued by hundreds of other victims who received meagre payments in exchange for their silence.

A former altar boy known as WCB was in 1996 paid $32,500 by the church after he was repeatedly abused by Warragul priest Daniel Hourigan between 1977 and 1980.

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