FLORIDA
First Coast News
By JEFF BRUMLEY
The Florida Times-Union
JACKSONVILLE, FL -- The Catholic Diocese of Orlando and the Jacksonville-based Diocese of St. Augustine paid a combined $1.5 million in May to settle sexual abuse claims involving two priests who molested three altar boys "countless times" during the late 1960s and early 1970s, according to an attorney for the victims.
Diocesan officials deliberately ignored the actions of the Revs. Vernon F. Uhran and Hubert Reason while their abuses were occurring, said the victims' Miami-based lawyer, Adam Horowitz.
Reason is deceased and Uhran is living in the Orlando area but is no longer in active ministry, Horowitz said.
The settlement remained a secret on the First Coast until it was referred to in a Sept. 12 news release announcing the filing of two new sexual molestation lawsuits against the Orlando Diocese.