The Archdiocese of Boston has agreed to settle with seven alleged victims of clergy sex abuse.
Attorney Mitchell Garabedian, counsel of the claimants, said there were 16 settlements in all, including three with religious orders.
The settlements total about $1 million, according to media reports.
Garabedian said two settlements with religious orders have been reached in cases involving priests who allegedly abused victims while they worked in the archdiocese.
Another, separate settlement with the Carmelite Order involved a brother who had been accused of abuse in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles before being assigned to Peabody.
The agreements carried no admission of liability, the lawyer said.
Terrence Donilon, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Boston, said the church “is committed to addressing cases of clergy abuse in a compassionate and just manner.”
“As a matter of practice, we generally do not comment on individual settlements with survivors,” he told the Boston Globe.
Garabedian, who has settled more than 1,000 claims, said the latest cases show that more victims are becoming emboldened to pursue claims they had tried to forget or bury.
“They could not come forward until their coping mechanism allowed them to,” he said.
The lawyer said the settlements are an acknowledgment of abuse.
“A settlement helps a survivor try to rid himself or herself of the unnecessary guilt and shame felt as a result of being sexually abused,” said Garabedian
Sources
Boston Globe
AP/CBS News
ABC
Image: CBS News
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