CALIFORNIA
The Conservative Voice
Saturday, July 09, 2005 07:51:10 PM
The Archdiocese of San Francisco has agreed to pay more than $16 million to settle a dozen lawsuits alleging sexual abuse by a once-popular priest.
Attorneys announced the agreements Friday, days before the first of several planned trials was to begin with plaintiffs alleging they were abused by the late Rev. Joseph Pritchard.
The settlement works out to an average of $1.3 million for each plaintiff, but attorneys said the individual amounts varied and would not be disclosed.
The settlement is roughly comparable to a similar agreement reached last month with 10 other plaintiffs who said they were molested by Pritchard when he was pastor at St. Martin of Tours parish in San Jose.
"Money can't make up for what this guy did to us," said one of the men, Dennis Kavanaugh, 47.