COVINGTON (KY)
Cincinnati Post
By Kevin Eigelbach
Post staff reporter
The three principal negotiators of the Catholic Diocese of Covington's proposed $120 million sexual abuse settlement wrote Tuesday that the judge should approve it because it's fair, protects victim's privacy and avoids a protracted legal battle.
In affidavits filed in Boone Circuit Court on Tuesday, Covington Bishop Roger Foys and attorneys for the diocese and victims say their negotiations were intense but amicable.
"Shortly before I became bishop of this diocese in July 2002, I made a commitment to treat victims of sexual abuse with compassion and respect and to address their needs to the extent possible," Foys wrote.
"I believe that the settlement we have reached is fair and reasonable to the victims and to the diocese," he wrote to Special Judge John Potter.
The proposed settlement, announced Friday, pays $5,000 to $450,000 each, depending on the severity of abuse, to an unspecified number of victims of sexual abuse done by diocese employees.
The class of plaintiffs includes anyone abused by a priest or other church employee over the past half century.
Posted by kshaw at June 8, 2005 07:47 AM