Los Angeles – The nation’s largest Catholic archdiocese has settled its abuse cases for $660 million, by far the largest payout in the church’s sexual abuse scandal, The Associated Press has learned.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles and the plaintiffs reached the deal Saturday, said Ray Boucher, the lead plaintiffs’ attorney. The archdiocese and the plaintiffs will release a statement this morning and hold a news conference Monday, he said.
A source with knowledge of the deal placed its value at $660 million. The source spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal had not been announced.
The amount, which would average a little more than $1.3 million per plaintiff, exceeded earlier reports that the settlement would be between $600 million and $650 million. The settlement also calls for the release of confidential priest personnel files after review by a judge assigned to oversee the litigation, Boucher said.
The settlements push the total amount paid out by the U.S. church since 1950 to more than $2 billion, with about a quarter of that coming from the Los Angeles archdiocese. It wasn’t immediately clear how the payout would be split among the insurers, the archdiocese and several Roman Catholic religious orders. A judge must sign off on the agreement.
The settlement is the largest by a Roman Catholic diocese since the clergy sexual abuse scandal erupted in Boston in 2002.
The largest payout so far has been by the Diocese of Orange, Calif., in 2004, for $100 million.
