Iowa Catholic Diocese Settles Sex Abuse Claims
Pastor Dale Morgan
Iowa Catholic Diocese Settles Sex Abuse Claims*
Wednesday March 28, 2007 4:31 AM
WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) - The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dubuque has
settled claims with nine people who claimed they were sexually abused by
priests, attorneys for the accusers announced Tuesday.
The diocese agreed to pay $2.6 million in cash, to be distributed based
on the nature and extent of the abuse and the impact the abuse had on
the person's life, the attorneys said.
The accusers named six priests in the archdiocese. The abuse occurred in
separate incidents from the 1940s to the mid-1990s, the attorneys said.
No lawsuits were filed, and the settlement was reached this month
through private mediation, attorneys said.
The diocese also agreed to pay for the cost of 12 counseling and therapy
sessions for each accuser.
``From my perspective, the archdiocese ... has never questioned the
abuse of our clients to us,'' said Thomas Staack, an attorney for the
accusers.
Archbishop Jerome Hanus wrote to each of the individuals, apologizing
for the abuse.
``What they did was heinous, awful, horrendous and cries to heaven for
vengeance,'' Hanus wrote.
Three of the six priests are dead. The others no longer serve as priests
``in any parish, school or hospital,'' diocesan officials said.
Of those still living, one served four years in prison after pleading
guilty to fondling several boys; one was defrocked in 2005 and receives
a pension from the archdiocese; and the Vatican is reviewing the case of
another.
It's the second time the diocese has settled claims of abuse. In
February 2006, it agreed to pay $5 million to 20 people.