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	Breaking News: Liberatore Suit Settled for $3 Million By Erin Nissley Citizens Voice November 8, 2007 http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19002717&BRD=2259&PAG=461&dept_id=618523&rfi=6 A federal sex abuse civil suit involving a former priest and the Diocese of Scranton has been settled for $3 million. Reached late Wednesday, the settlement was approved this morning. Details were unavailable as of 10 a.m. The suit was brought by a young man identified in court filings as "John Doe," who claimed the former priest, Albert M. Liberatore Jr., sexually abused him from 1999 to 2002, beginning when the boy was 14. Liberatore, now 42, was pastor at Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Duryea when the abuse occurred. He pleaded guilty in 2005 in Luzerne County and New York to sexually abusing the victim and was sentenced to 10 years probation and defrocked. The victim filed the federal suit against Liberatore, the diocese, Sacred Heart, retired Bishop James C. Timlin, the Rev. Joseph R. Kopacz, who was the diocesan vicar of priests when the abuse occurred, and Brother Antonio F. Antonucci, an employee at Sacred Heart who may have witnessed interactions between Liberatore and the victim. Check back to citizensvoice.com for updates and read more in tomorrow's Citizens' Voice.
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