BOSTON (MA)
WHDH
BOSTON (AP) -- When the clergy sex abuse scandal erupted here four years ago, Bill Garrity was not among the more than 500 people who sued the archdiocese and settled claims in 2003.
However, Garrity -- who said he was abused by a parish priest as a 12-year-old altar boy -- is among a group of about 200 alleged victims with new claims against the archdiocese.
Lawyers representing 172 alleged victims met Tuesday to discuss a counter offer for the archdiocese, which has offered $7.5 million to about 100 of the latest plaintiffs.
"I didn't want to be dragged through what everybody else was dragged through," said Garrity, now 46, of the first round of lawsuits. "I didn't want to be standing out in front of a church or a rectory. I just hoped it would go away, and it didn't."