Abuse lawyer seeks lien on church property

Burlington, Vermont --

A lawyer representing 10 new clients who say they were sexually abused by priests wants the court to place liens on $30 million worth of church property.

Jerome O'Neill, a former federal prosecutor, settled two cases with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington last year. Those cases ended with the diocese agreeing to cash payments of $150,000 and $120,000.

This time O'Neill is asking the court for a legal claim to diocesan buildings and land in case the diocese can't come up with cash.

''We expect to seek attachments in the $2.5 million range in all of the cases we have filed, for a total of around $30 million," O'Neill said.

If successful, O'Neill's clients would have a claim on church holdings if the diocese couldn't pay court judgments.

''We believe the information we have is sufficiently compelling that seven-figure verdicts are quite likely," O'Neill said. ''We want to make sure that there are sufficient assets available if we are successful in our actions. The diocese doesn't have insurance, but it has $65 million of appraised property in the city of Burlington alone."

Read the article at The Boston Globe Dated August 1, 2005

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