OAKLAND (CA)
FoxReno.com
POSTED: 4:09 pm PDT April 22, 2005
OAKLAND -- The Roman Catholic Diocese of Santa Rosa and a Sacramento-area woman announced a $3.3 million settlement Friday of a civil suit that alleged defrocked priest Donald Kimball sexually abused the woman for six years starting when she was 15.
"He messed me up for the rest of my life. I hope by telling my story I can help other people," said 44-year-old Roberta Saum on the steps of the Rene C. Davidson Courthouse by Lake Merritt in Oakland.
Attorneys said nine sexual abuse cases against the Santa Rosa diocese were still pending, four of them involving Kimball.
"This case against Mr. Kimball was arguably the worst of the cases now facing the diocese. With the resolution of this claim, we are now hopeful that we can expedite settlement of the nine cases that remain," diocese attorney Dan Galvin said.
Saum's case was scheduled to go to trial May 11 after two years of settlement talks. Settlement talks on the remaining cases were scheduled for May 12, Galvin said.
Posted by kshaw at April 22, 2005 06:43 PM