BURLINGTON (KY)
Cincinnati Enquirer
By Jim Hannah
Enquirer staff writer
BURLINGTON - A national advertising blitz will ask anyone who was abused by a Covington Diocese priest or employee to step forward so he can share in the record-setting $120 million proposed settlement.
Details of the proposal, announced Friday, were filed in Boone Circuit Court on Monday afternoon as lawyers seek approval to settle the only class-action suit against a Roman Catholic diocese since the church's sex scandal erupted in Boston.
Judge John Potter, a special judge from Louisville who has been overseeing the case, is expected to make his first public comments about the proposal during a hearing Thursday. He must then set a period of time for public comment, followed by an additional hearing before putting the final stamp on the agreement.
Announcements in such papers as USA Today will give details: Those who previously notified the court that they did not want to be part of the class-action will not be included. While the suit originally said only people abused since 1956 were eligible, the settlement will allow any minor prior to that date to submit a claim.
The number of sex-abuse victims in the once-vast Covington Diocese is unclear. The diocese reported in February 2004 it was aware of 205 allegations. It has paid $10.5 million, with about 62 percent coming from insurance, to settle with 56 people who declined to be a part of the class action since August 2003.
Posted by kshaw at June 7, 2005 06:10 AM