Reported by: AP News
Web produced by: Neil Relyea
The Archdiocese of Louisville has begun sending checks in a $25.7 million settlement to 243 people who claimed they were sexually abused by some of its priests and employees.
The abuse settlement is one of the largest in the nation from the Roman Catholic Church.
The archdiocese agreed to the settlement in June.
Jefferson County Circuit Judge James M. Shake approved it in August, and in October, he approved the plan by a Cincinnati attorney that separated the plaintiffs into three tiers based on the severity of the abused they suffered.
Ross Turner, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said that some received the money about a week ago.
The 77 victims of the most severe forms of abuse -- including rape and sodomy -- received the largest awards, $141,000 to $163,000, Turner said.
The middle category, which included fondling and genital touching, encompassed 160 plaintiffs receiving $71,000 and $92,000, Turner said.
The six plaintiffs who fell into the third category, which included lewd behavior and non-genital touching, will get $20,000 to $30,000.
Twenty-three of the 243 plaintiffs are appealing the sums determined by settlement's court-appointed administrator, Cincinnati attorney Matthew Garretson.
An arbitrator will decide how much those plaintiffs receive, Turner said, adding the relatively small number of appeals is "a testament to the plan that Mr. Garretson put out."
"He had worked a long time," Turner said. "The plan is fair."
Plaintiff James B. Corcoran Jr. declined to talk about the amount of his award but said he won't appeal. The money is "going to help," he said.
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