STOCKTON (CA)
Record
By Scott Smith
Record Staff Writer
Published Saturday, March 26, 2005
STOCKTON -- Two molestation victims of a Lodi priest who was jailed and later deported to Ireland have won a $3.6 million settlement from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Stockton, attorneys for the victims said Friday.
The resolution means the diocese will pay $1.8 million to each man as compensation for abuses committed when they were boys. The settlement is the first in San Joaquin County in the three years since an Alameda County Superior Court judge ruled that victims of sexual abuse could extend the statute of limitations for one year to file claims in California.
The Rev. Oliver O'Grady of St. Anne's Catholic Church in Lodi was convicted of molesting the boys, then 11 and 12, when they were elementary school students at the church. The unidentified victims are now in their 40s, said their Stockton attorneys, Gregory Davenport and Jeffrey Silvia.
"Our clients are extremely happy," Davenport said. "They feel for the other victims who are going to have to continue on in this battle."
Attorneys for the Stockton Diocese in the case could not be reached for comment Friday.
Posted by kshaw at March 26, 2005 07:34 AM