Church to pay millions in deal
San Jose, California --
12 MOLESTED BY S.J. PRIEST
Closing a major chapter in one of the Bay Area's most notorious cases of clergy sexual abuse, the Roman Catholic church will pay more than $16 million to 12 men who were molested in the 1970s by a popular San Jose priest.
The agreement came as attorneys were preparing for a trial next week, in which one of the men was expected to testify that the late Rev. Joseph Pritchard abused him at St. Martin of Tours parish in San Jose -- and in the rectory of a Los Altos church after Pritchard moved to a new assignment there. More trials were scheduled to follow.
While the settlement works out to an average of $1.3 million for each plaintiff, attorneys said the individual amounts varied and would not be disclosed. It is roughly comparable to a similar agreement reached last month with 10 other plaintiffs who said they also were molested by Pritchard when he was pastor at St. Martin of Tours.
``It was a particularly appalling case. So many families, friends and neighbors in this very loyal and hard-working parish were damaged by Pritchard,'' said Richard Simons, an attorney for plaintiffs in the settlement announced Friday.
``Money can't make up for what this guy did to us,'' added one of the men, 47-year-old Dennis Kavanaugh of San Jose. He said he went to court on behalf of himself and his friends, as well as for their parents, many of whom were wracked with guilt when they learned of the abuse years after it occurred.
``They didn't know, but they sent us there,'' to the parish school where Pritchard befriended many of his victims, Kavanaugh explained.
San Francisco Archbishop William Levada confirmed the settlement in a brief written statement issued Friday, in which he apologized to Pritchard's victims and to ``all other victims of the clergy child abuse scandals.''
Read the article at MercuryNews.com Dated July 9, 2005
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12 MOLESTED BY S.J. PRIEST
Closing a major chapter in one of the Bay Area's most notorious cases of clergy sexual abuse, the Roman Catholic church will pay more than $16 million to 12 men who were molested in the 1970s by a popular San Jose priest.
The agreement came as attorneys were preparing for a trial next week, in which one of the men was expected to testify that the late Rev. Joseph Pritchard abused him at St. Martin of Tours parish in San Jose -- and in the rectory of a Los Altos church after Pritchard moved to a new assignment there. More trials were scheduled to follow.
While the settlement works out to an average of $1.3 million for each plaintiff, attorneys said the individual amounts varied and would not be disclosed. It is roughly comparable to a similar agreement reached last month with 10 other plaintiffs who said they also were molested by Pritchard when he was pastor at St. Martin of Tours.
``It was a particularly appalling case. So many families, friends and neighbors in this very loyal and hard-working parish were damaged by Pritchard,'' said Richard Simons, an attorney for plaintiffs in the settlement announced Friday.
``Money can't make up for what this guy did to us,'' added one of the men, 47-year-old Dennis Kavanaugh of San Jose. He said he went to court on behalf of himself and his friends, as well as for their parents, many of whom were wracked with guilt when they learned of the abuse years after it occurred.
``They didn't know, but they sent us there,'' to the parish school where Pritchard befriended many of his victims, Kavanaugh explained.
San Francisco Archbishop William Levada confirmed the settlement in a brief written statement issued Friday, in which he apologized to Pritchard's victims and to ``all other victims of the clergy child abuse scandals.''
Read the article at MercuryNews.com Dated July 9, 2005
posted by God Almighty Himself at 7:45 PM
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