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Alleged Geoghan victims agree to $10 million settlement
By Denise Lavoie, Associated Press, 09/18/02
BOSTON -- Alleged sexual abuse victims of defrocked priest John Geoghan have tentatively agreed to a $10 million settlement proposal from the Boston Archdiocese to drop their lawsuits, their attorney said Wednesday. The money will be divided among 86 plaintiffs, including people who say they were molested by Geoghan when they were children, parents of some of the children and some who say Geoghan exposed himself to them. The deal comes six months after the victims and the archdiocese announced a settlement worth up to $30 million. The archdiocese backed out of that deal in May, saying it could not afford the deal as hundreds of other lawsuits were being filed. Attorney Mitchell Garabedian, who represents the alleged victims, said they agreed to the lower figure because they want to try to put the abuse behind them. "They want closure and they understand that the church does not really care about their emotional well-being," Garabedian said. "It's time to move on and try to heal as best they can, if at all." Under the deal, the bulk of the settlement -- $9.3 million -- will be divided among 50 people who say they were molested by Geoghan. Another 20 people who say Geoghan exposed himself to them will split $540,000. Sixteen parents of children who say they were abused by Geoghan will divide $160,000. A hearing has been scheduled for Thursday morning before Suffolk Superior Court Judge Constance Sweeney, who is handling all the clergy sexual abuse cases. Garabedian said Sweeney will be asked to approve a petition from a Geoghan victim who is still a minor. The boy is now 17 years old, and the judge must approve his participation in the settlement before the deal can be finalized, Garabedian said. "If that petition is allowed by the judge, then we are going to settle all 86 of them in court (Thursday)," Garabedian said. Donna Morrissey, a spokeswoman for the archdiocese, said she would not characterize the deal as final, but said, "We're working towards it and our desire is to settle these cases in a fair and equitable manner." J. Owen Todd, Cardinal Bernard Law's attorney, was out of the country and could not be reached for comment Wednesday. After the archdiocese withdrew from the original deal in May, Garabedian asked Sweeney to enforce the settlement. Sweeney held a five-day hearing on the request last month, and was expected to issue her ruling soon. But two weeks ago, both sides said they were close to an agreement. In a separate criminal case, Geoghan was convicted in January of groping a 10-year-old boy in a swimming pool in the early 1990s. The sexual abuse scandal engulfing the nation's Roman Catholic Church was sparked in January with revelations that church officials shuffled Geoghan from parish to parish despite knowing of abuse allegations against him. |
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