KENTUCKY
Indianapolis Star
By Bruce Schreiner
Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- The relatively small Roman Catholic diocese of Covington, Ky., said Friday that it has agreed to create a record-setting $120 million fund to settle a class-action lawsuit over sexual abuse by priests.
The potential payout by the northern Kentucky diocese, which has about 90,000 parishioners, is 40 percent larger than the $85 million settlement negotiated in 2003 by the Boston Archdiocese, which has 2.1 million Catholics.
"This is a very important and in many ways unprecedented result in an extremely difficult matter," Stanley Chesley, the lead attorney for the plaintiffs, said in a statement.
Lawyers and victims' advocates said there's a fundamental difference between the Covington settlement and other large settlements across the country. The fund created by the Kentucky diocese is the maximum amount it will have to pay. Depending on how many victims come forward, it may spend less than the full $120 million. Any unused money will revert to the diocese.
Under the terms of the settlement, which still must be approved by a court, claimants will be divided into four categories based on the nature and severity of the abuse they suffered. Compensation will range from $5,000 to $450,000, minus court-ordered attorneys' fees