April 04, 2005

Church apologizes, and settles with priest-molestation victim

ALASKA
Anchorage Daily News

Published: April 4th, 2005
Last Modified: April 4th, 2005 at 03:17 PM

The Roman Catholic Church said Monday it has reached a settlement with a woman who accused a Nome priest of molesting her in the 1970s.

The Rev. John D. Whitney, provincial supervisor of the Society of Jesus, Oregon Province, acknowledged that the Rev. James Poole had abused a victim. Whitney apologized on behalf of the church.

"We apologize to the victim of this misconduct, and to all who have suffered a loss of hope and trust," Whitney said. "We ask forgiveness as we strive to ensure that such actions do not happen again."

Attorney Ken Roosa said early last month that the church had settled the case with his client, Elsie Boudreau, who now lives in the Anchorage area. Roosa repeated Monday that the settlement was for about $1 million.

Posted by kshaw at April 4, 2005 07:55 PM