February 21, 2005

Sex abuse claims cost archdiocese $18 million

SEATTLE (WA)
The News Tribune

STEVE MAYNARD; The News Tribune
Last updated: February 19th, 2005 02:35 AM

The Archdiocese of Seattle has spent $18 million since 1987 dealing with cases of clergy sexual abuse, including $4.5 million in 2004 as new accusations surfaced, the church reported Friday.

Last year, the Seattle archdiocese received 31 new allegations of clergy abuse against 10 priests. The abuse allegedly occurred from 1955 to the mid-1980s.

The priests are either deceased, defrocked or permanently removed from ministry – except for one, who’s on leave pending action by the Vatican.

From 1950-2004, 52 priests working in the archdiocese were accused of sexual abuse. Accusations against three of those priests came to light last year. Of those, two are dead and one is defrocked, said Greg Magnoni, spokesman for the Seattle archdiocese.

A total of 184 people have made allegations over the years. Several priests have had multiple accusers.

Posted by kshaw at February 21, 2005 06:34 AM