LOS ANGELES: July 15 (AFP): Hundreds of people who claim they were abused by clergy affiliated with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles can expect to be paid more than $1 million each in a $660 million settlement of their lawsuitsThe deal, by far the largest settlement in the church's sexual abuse scandal, was reached Saturday, said Ray Boucher, the lead plaintiff's attorney. The archdiocese, America's largest, and the plaintiffs were set to release a statement Sunday morning and hold a news conference Monday, he said.
An anonymous source with knowledge of the deal placed its value at $660 million, by far the largest payout in the church's sexual abuse scandal. The source spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because the settlement had not been officially announced.
The amount, which would average a little more than $1.3 million per plaintiff, exceeded earlier reports that the settlement would be between $600 million and $650 million.
Some Roman Catholic orders - the Servites, Claretians and Oblates - will be carved out of the agreement because they refused to participate, the source said. The settlement also calls for the release of confidential priest personnel files after review by a judge assigned to oversee the litigation, Boucher said.
The settlements push the total amount paid out by the US church since 1950 to more than $2 billion, with about a quarter of that coming from the Los Angeles archdiocese.
LA church to pay $660m over clergy abuse
FE Team | Published: July 16, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00
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