TACOMA (WA)
The News Tribune
STEVE MAYNARD; The News Tribune
Published: June 30th, 2005 12:01 AM
The Catholic Diocese of Sacramento agreed Wednesday to pay $35 million to settle 33 claims of sexual abuse by priests, including 16 against Tacoma priest Mario Blanco.
The plaintiffs will receive an average of $1.1 million, making it one of the largest clergy sex abuse settlements by the Catholic Church, per plaintiff, in the nation.
Tony Cano and 15 others accused Blanco of molesting them more than three decades ago. Blanco denies the accusations.
For Cano, 46, and his family, the church was always a shelter. His mother was raising five children and gleaned her strength from the Catholic Church, he said.
She was thrilled when Blanco, who served mainly Spanish-speaking parishes in the Sacramento Diocese from 1969 to 1973, took an interest in her son. He taught Cano music and helped him start a band.
Although Cano, then a preteen, joked with his friends about never wanting to ride in the front seat of Blanco’s car, he couldn’t bring himself to tell his mother of the abuse. He couldn’t shatter her faith in the church, he said.