IOWA
Quad-City Times
By Dustin Lemmon |
The Catholic Diocese of Davenport has agreed to pay $870,000 to settle five child molestation cases filed against four priests.
Davenport attorney Craig Levien, who represents the five abuse victims, said Thursday that the settlement raises the total amount of compensation paid by the diocese in cases of abuse by members of the clergy to more than $10 million. He said about 50 percent of that has been paid by insurance companies.
The settlements were reached this week through mediation, which allowed the plaintiffs to avoid going to trial before a judge or jury.
The four priests named in the cases settled this week are William Wiebler and Francis Bass, who have been accused in previous cases, and two deceased priests who previously had not been publicly identified, Raymond Kalter and Herman Bongers.
Posted by kshaw at February 17, 2006 09:09 AM