Kentucky diocese OK’d to settle sex-abuse suit for $120 million

BURLINGTON, Ky. – A judge granted preliminary approval Tuesday to the nation’s largest settlement in the church abuse scandal, authorizing a $120 million agreement between the Roman Catholic Diocese of Covington and hundreds of victims of child-molesting priests and other employees.

The decision by Judge John W. Potter makes immediately available $40 million from diocese assets. The victims and the diocese are suing two insurance companies for the remaining $80 million.

Potter’s ruling allows the church and the plaintiffs’ lawyers to begin advertising the settlement and sets a Nov. 10 deadline for claims to be filed.

“It’s such a sensitive issue,” plaintiffs’ attorney Stan Chesley said. “It’s the best way to know we have a measure of justice.”

The class-action suit was filed in 2003. It accuses the church of a 50-year cover-up of sexual abuse by priests and other employees.

The Covington fund is the largest agreement of its kind since the abuse scandal erupted in the Boston Archdiocese three years ago and spread nationwide. In that time, at least $378 million has been spent on settlements with victims, legal fees, counseling and other expenses.

Last December, the Diocese of Orange, Calif., agreed to pay $100 million to 87 victims. In 2003, the Boston Archdiocese settled with 552 victims for $85 million.

Carrie Huff, an attorney for the Covington diocese, described the agreement as an amicable resolution. “We have come to see the issues in the same way. It’s hard to breathe a sigh of relief under these circumstances, but I’m happy,” she said.

It was unclear how many people are part of the class action. The judge has ordered attorneys to determine the exact number of victims who will come forward.

Richard Lillick, 63, who said he was molested beginning in 1957, said the settlement was “an attempt to root out a very grotesque cancer that’s been eating at the diocese for years and years.”

“I can’t imagine anything better from our point of view,” said Lillick, one of more than a dozen plaintiffs in the Boone County courtroom gallery.

Victims would receive awards ranging from $5,000 to $450,000, based on the severity of abuse. Those in the highest category would be eligible to apply to a special fund for extraordinary claims.

A final hearing over the settlement is scheduled for Jan. 9, when Potter can either approve or reject the payout to victims who made verified claims.

Sexual abuse by priests has cost the Catholic Church in the United States more than $1 billion since 1950, according to tallies by American bishops and an Associated Press review of known settlements conducted last month.

The Covington Diocese spans 14 counties and has 89,000 parishioners.