Catholic Diocese of Orange Settles Sex Abuse Cases
Pastor Dale Morgan
Catholic Diocese of Orange Settles Sex Abuse Cases*
By GILLIAN FLACCUS,
Associated Press Writer AP
SANTA ANA, Calif. _ The Diocese of Orange said Friday that it has
settled four sex-abuse cases, including a case that had threatened to
expose the bishop to a contempt of court hearing next week.
It wasn't immediately known how much the plaintiffs would receive under
the terms of the deal, which had been in the works for several weeks as
attorneys simultaneously prepared for trial.
The cases were the first to be filed since 2004, when the Diocese of
Orange reached a record-breaking $100 million settlement with about 90
plaintiffs. The lawsuits, the first of which was to go to trial Oct. 15,
involved allegations against three lay teachers at Mater Dei High School
and Santa Margarita High School, as well as allegations against a priest
at a neighborhood parish.
"The settlement of these civil cases represents the moral obligation for
the church for such behavior by adults in positions of responsibility,"
Bishop Tod D. Brown said in a statement.
Sarah Gray, one of the plaintiffs, said she was pleased to have a
settlement, but still had to work on personal healing.
"I really wanted to go to trial and at the same time, I think, the
settlement really accords the same amount of accountability to the
diocese," said Gray, who alleges she was sexually molested by her choir
teachers in the late 1990s at Mater Dei.