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	Rockford Diocese Will Pay out $2 Million to 2 By Kate Thayer Northwest Herald May 11, 2007 http://www.nwherald.com/articles/2007/05/11/news/local/doc4644343d511eb234743166.txt Geneva — Nearly three years after a former Kane and McHenry County priest went to prison for sexually abusing two teenage girls, the Rockford Diocese will pay millions for "owed justice" to his victims. On Thursday, Circuit Judge Keith Brown approved a $2.2 million settlement between the diocese, Bishop Thomas Doran and Mark Campobello's two victims. Brown entered a default judgment against Campobello in 2004 after he failed to respond to the lawsuits from prison. The diocese will pay the women – now 22 and 24 – $1.15 million and $1.05 million, respectively, diocese spokesman Penny Wiegert said. "No amount of money can compensate what they might have gone through, but I'm sure in some way or another it will heal," she said. The victims' attorneys claimed that the diocese and Doran ignored warning signs and failed to conduct background checks on Campobello before hiring him in 1994. Barbara Blaine, president of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said the lawsuit "highlights everything that is wrong with how the church responds to these cases." Campobello, 42, pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual abuse in 2004 and was sentenced to eight years in prison for abusing the two women while he was a priest at St. Peter Catholic Church and a teacher at Aurora Central Catholic High School in 1999 and 2000. Campobello is a 1983 graduate of Crystal Lake High School. He served at St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church in Crystal Lake, and at St. Patrick's Catholic Church in McHenry before moving to Kane County. Wiegert stopped short Thursday of saying the settlement admits guilt on the part of Doran or the diocese. "Mark Campobello [pleaded] guilty to those charges. As such, justice should be done and that's what [the settlement] means," she said. "There is no other hidden meaning as to the time frame of when [the diocese was aware of any abuse]." The diocese will pay $500,000 of its own funds toward the settlement, and the rest is covered by insurance, according to a written statement released Thursday. "Although the settlement amounts were a heavy burden for the diocese, the diocese owed restorative justice to the two women for their injuries," the diocese said in a statement. Jeff Anderson, an attorney who represented the women, said the settlement "is clearly an acknowledgment of legal responsibility." However, he said "it doesn't put an end to their suffering, but at least closes a chapter." Anderson said the women feel "validated" and "affirmed," and the end of legal proceedings in the case "will help them move forward." The settlement sends a message about such crimes in the priesthood, and to the Rockford diocese. "Hopefully this suit will get their attention...and they won't commit the sins of their past in the future," he said. St. Peter Monsignor Joseph Jarmoluk released a brief statement Thursday where he said, "We hope this settlement contributes to [the victim's] healing in some way." Throughout legal proceedings in the case, supporters and critics of Jarmoluk regularly attended court hearings. Many participated in online message boards that discussed the lawsuits, church sex abuse, Jarmoluk and a pending documentary on the monsignor. One concerned parishioner, Frank Bochte, said Thursday the two victims "deserve every penny they will receive from the case and then some." "The diocese officials and parish administrators who made mistakes have to be held accountable for true healing to take place," Bochte said. "The worse thing that can happen is for this whole thing to get swept under the rug and not learn from it." Maureen Pott, who along with her husband, have been parishioners at St. Peter for 25 years, hoped the settlement would bring closure for the victims and the church. "This has been going on for a long time," she said, adding she hopes the victims will now be able to make forward with their lives. Blaine blamed the diocese for their conduct with Campobello. Although the settlement should send a message to the Catholic church, "I would have thought ... they had learned their lesson," she said. Campobello is eligible for parole from Illinois River Correctional Center in February, according to the Illinois Department of Corrections Web site. He was removed from the ministry in December 2002 when he was arrested, and expelled from the priesthood in June 2005. Contributing: Eric Schelkopf Contact by Kate Thayer: kthayer@nwnewsgroup.com
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