Four More Who Charged Abuse Settle With Boston Archdiocese
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/06/national/06SETT.html?th
BOSTON, April 5 — The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston has reached settlements with four men who say they were sexually abused by the Rev. Paul R. Shanley and who opted out of an $85 million agreement brokered last year with hundreds of people who say they were abused by priests.
The settlements, reached late Sunday night, mean that nearly all of the civil cases against Father Shanley, a central figure in the sexual abuse scandal here, have been resolved.
A court order involving two of the men who settled Sunday had prompted the release of thousands of pages of documents, including personnel files of clergy members, detailing a pattern of shuttling abusive priests from parish to parish. The documents galvanized attention to the scandal here, leading to the resignation of the archdiocese's leader, Cardinal Bernard F. Law, in December 2002.
The two men, Gregory Ford and Paul Busa, said that beginning when they were 6, Father Shanley took them out of religious education classes at St. Jean's Parish in Newton and sexually abused them in the rectory, confessional, bathroom and other places at the church. The names of the other two men who settled Sunday were not released.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs did not reveal specifics of the settlements, but said payments would be larger than the maximum of $300,000 in last year's settlement.
One of the lawyers, Roderick MacLeish Jr., said one victim would receive what he believed to be the highest award for a sexual abuse case in Massachusetts. Until now, that had been $1.4 million, with interest, he said.
Father Shanley, 73, still faces criminal charges involving Mr. Ford, Mr. Busa and two other men, one of those who settled Sunday and another who settled in December. Father Shanley was freed on $300,000 bail in December 2002. His trial is scheduled to start on Oct. 12.
Mr. MacLeish said more than 50 people had accused Father Shanley of abuse. Documents show church officials transferred him from parish to parish despite receiving numerous complaints about him, including that he endorsed sex between men and boys. Father Shanley was assigned to the Diocese of San Bernardino, Calif., in 1989 and removed from active ministry in 1993, when Boston officials revealed complaints of abuse by him.
In a statement, Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley said he hoped the settlement would "bring some measure of healing to the Ford family."
BOSTON, April 5 — The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston has reached settlements with four men who say they were sexually abused by the Rev. Paul R. Shanley and who opted out of an $85 million agreement brokered last year with hundreds of people who say they were abused by priests.
The settlements, reached late Sunday night, mean that nearly all of the civil cases against Father Shanley, a central figure in the sexual abuse scandal here, have been resolved.
A court order involving two of the men who settled Sunday had prompted the release of thousands of pages of documents, including personnel files of clergy members, detailing a pattern of shuttling abusive priests from parish to parish. The documents galvanized attention to the scandal here, leading to the resignation of the archdiocese's leader, Cardinal Bernard F. Law, in December 2002.
The two men, Gregory Ford and Paul Busa, said that beginning when they were 6, Father Shanley took them out of religious education classes at St. Jean's Parish in Newton and sexually abused them in the rectory, confessional, bathroom and other places at the church. The names of the other two men who settled Sunday were not released.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs did not reveal specifics of the settlements, but said payments would be larger than the maximum of $300,000 in last year's settlement.
One of the lawyers, Roderick MacLeish Jr., said one victim would receive what he believed to be the highest award for a sexual abuse case in Massachusetts. Until now, that had been $1.4 million, with interest, he said.
Father Shanley, 73, still faces criminal charges involving Mr. Ford, Mr. Busa and two other men, one of those who settled Sunday and another who settled in December. Father Shanley was freed on $300,000 bail in December 2002. His trial is scheduled to start on Oct. 12.
Mr. MacLeish said more than 50 people had accused Father Shanley of abuse. Documents show church officials transferred him from parish to parish despite receiving numerous complaints about him, including that he endorsed sex between men and boys. Father Shanley was assigned to the Diocese of San Bernardino, Calif., in 1989 and removed from active ministry in 1993, when Boston officials revealed complaints of abuse by him.
In a statement, Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley said he hoped the settlement would "bring some measure of healing to the Ford family."
adam on Tuesday 06 April 2004 - 23:15:32