Record sex abuse settlement reached in California

Published: 2004-12-03

LOS ANGELES (CNS) -- The Diocese of Orange, Calif., reached a reportedly record-breaking financial settlement with 87 alleged victims of clergy sexual abuse late Dec. 2. Judge Owen Lee Kwong, who oversaw the settlement, ordered participants on both sides not to discuss details of the deal, but The Associated Press and the Los Angeles Times, citing anonymous sources, said it exceeded the previous record of $85 million that the Boston Archdiocese paid out last year to settle abuse claims by 541 people. Emerging from the civil courthouse in Los Angeles shortly after 11 p.m., Orange Bishop Tod D. Brown called the settlement "fair and compassionate." He said he planned to write each victim personally, "seeking forgiveness and reconciliation." The Orange settlement was the first major group settlement in California, where dioceses faced a total of more than 800 cases. Most of the cases were brought forward in 2003 under a law that created a special one-year suspension of the state's statute of limitations for suing institutions whose staff members sexually abused minors. About 500 lawsuits are in the Los Angeles Archdiocese.

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