In a sweeping move, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn announced that it intends to settle the remaining 1,100 lawsuits of alleged child sex abuse at the…
The Brooklyn Diocese is settling more than 1,100 remaining sex abuse cases. NBC New York’s Pei-Sze Cheng reports. In a sweeping move, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn announced that it intends to settle the remaining 1,100 lawsuits of alleged child sex abuse at the hands of priests and church staff.
“There’s no fair way to resolve these things,” said Sabrina Cools, of St. Albans. “So a little bit of compensation for what people have been through, it always helps.” Plaintiff's attorney Mitchell Garabedian has settled thousands of clergy sex abuse cases and currently represents 25 victim-survivors who filed against the Brooklyn Diocese. He has his doubts.“My clients are skeptical, understandably, they don’t trust the diocese,” Garabedian told NBC New York. “Is the compensation program going to be fair? Is it going to provide validation?” In a letter to the faithful, Bishop Robert J. Brennan wrote “we will endeavor to resolve expeditiously, all meritorious claims and to avoid the time expense and emotional strain for victim survivors that would be caused by individual trials.” The bishop goes on to say “as our global resolution process moves forward, we continue to pray for the victim-survivors, their families, and all others impacted by sexual abuse.” Avoiding a drawn out trial is one benefit, especially since some of the victim-survivors and priests are getting older. Some are no longer living. Nahid A. Shaikh, plaintiffs attorney for Jeff Anderson & Associates, said in a statement that"mediation suggests the Church understands that fighting survivors in court is neither morally defensible nor sustainable." Already the diocese said it has paid more than 500 victims upwards of $100 million dollars. In order to pay for future settlements, the diocese said it will need to cut costs, use insurance funds and even sell real estate – but they will not be using donations or parish offerings. The announcement of a settlement comes on the heels of several Catholic schools closing, but the diocese says the two are unrelated. The schools are said to be closing because of declining enrollment, but assets will be monetized which could involve sales or leases of school buildings“We don’t know if the settlement program is going to work. It may work for some victim survivors, and it may not for others. Let’s see what happens,” said Garabedian.
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