SACRAMENTO (CA)
Contra Costa Times
By Randy Myers
CONTRA COSTA TIMES
SACRAMENTO - Clergy sex abuse victims and their loved ones huddled Wednesday afternoon outside the county courthouse as lawyers announced that the Diocese of Sacramento had agreed to pay $35 million to settle 33 claims.
"It's time for the suffering to end and the healing to begin," said lawyer Jeff Anderson at the Sacramento news conference. He praised the victims for their courage in coming forward.
Settlement amounts in the Sacramento cases range from $400,000 to $4.2 million. Because some plaintiffs wish to remain anonymous, individual amounts were not disclosed. The Sacramento Diocese has no other pending abuse cases.
Earlier in the day, the Santa Rosa Diocese said it would pay $7.3 million to eight plaintiffs, bringing its total settlements to $10.6 million.
The news of the Sacramento settlement came moments before the first civil trial in that diocese was to begin.