TUCSON (AZ)
San Luis Obispo Tribune
ARTHUR H. ROTSTEIN
Associated Press
TUCSON, Ariz. - A bankruptcy judge approved 30 clergy sex abuse settlement claims Tuesday against the Diocese of Tucson. Nearly $9.8 million would be paid in an initial distribution.
The 30 cases involving 25 sex abuse victims and five parents drove the diocese to seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last September shortly after the Archdiocese of Portland, Ore., became the first in the nation to do so.
Among the cases were three involving three sets of Yuma brothers victimized as minors, which former Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas Zlaket had called "barnburner" cases because of their potential for multimillion-dollar verdicts.
Creditors must approve the plan; U.S. Bankruptcy Judge James Marlar, who approved the settlement, would then have to confirm it, possibly next month.
Posted by kshaw at June 15, 2005 04:22 AM