COVINGTON (KY)
Cincinnati Post
By Paul A. Long
Post staff reporter
Insurance companies for the Diocese of Covington have agreed to kick in nearly $45 million to a fund that will pay those who were sexually abused by priests or other church employees.
With the diocese contributing another $40 million, that will give victims a guaranteed $85 million, attorneys for those suing the diocese said during a fairness hearing Monday in Boone Circuit Court.
The fairness hearing was set to determine whether Special Judge John Potter would sign off on the settlement of the class-action lawsuit, filed against the diocese alleging a half-century of covering up sexual abuse.
The agreements with the two insurance companies - Catholic Mutual and the Fireman's Fund - were reached just minutes before the fairness hearing was to begin in Boone County, said Stan Chesley, one of the attorneys for plaintiffs in the case.