FLORIDA
Orlando Sentinel
The Associated Press |
Posted February 12, 2006
A Manatee County woman who accused three priests of sexual misconduct has released copies of a $125,000 settlement she reached in 2004 with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago.
The archdiocese offered the settlement to Linda Lee Burke, 56, after she claimed a priest molested her 40 years ago when she was 16 and two other priests had sexual relations with her when she was a young adult, according to a copy of the settlement.
Burke said she decided to make the settlement public after seeing how the archdiocese handled recent allegations of sexual abuse by another priest, the Rev. Daniel McCormack.
Cardinal Francis George has said he responded too slowly in the McCormack case.
"I was very distressed when I heard all that and really thought the church had developed enough of a program that they would be able to address the issue," Burke said Saturday. She said she "realized I'm protecting these priests by not naming them."