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	Judge Divvies up San Diego Clergy Abuse Settlement By Teri Figueroa North County Times December 7, 2007 http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/12/08/news/top_stories/1_02_2912_7_07.txt A judge on Friday divvied up a nearly $200 million settlement won by scores of abuse victims of Catholic priests from the Diocese of San Diego and noted that he wanted to award more, given the large number of egregious cases. "There was simply not enough money to compensate all of the high-end victims with a high-end dollar amount," Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Peter D. Lichtman said in his order, issued Friday. "The range, extent and depth of abuse in the San Diego cases are unlike any that this court has previously seen." Plaintiff Barbara Yoes of San Diego said she was repeatedly raped at an area Catholic school between the ages of 10 and 12. She was unsure Friday of her settlement amount. "I totally agree with the judge," said Yoes, 50. "It's not enough money and it never could be. You can't replace somebody's life." "The diocese acknowledges again that no amount of money nor money alone can adequately resolve the irreparable consequences of sexual abuse," Diocese of San Diego spokesman Rodrigo Valdivia said. San Diego's $198 million settlement is the second largest settlement announced since the clergy sex-abuse scandal erupted in 2002. Valdivia said the campaign for donations from lay Catholics at local parishes to help pay the settlement has collected more than $1 million thus far. Bishop Robert Brom has spoken to parishes in Oceanside, Rancho Santa Fe, Fallbrook and other North County locations about the settlement, Valdivia said. The settlement agreement, which came in September, ended more than four years of negotiations. It came six months after the diocese filed for bankruptcy protection in February just hours before a trial was to begin in the first case. Lichtman said he had "little doubt" that the abuse allegations were true. Lichtman oversaw settlements in other Southern California clergy cases, including a $100 million amount in Orange County and the record-breaking $660 million settlement reached with the Los Angeles Archdiocese in July. In the San Diego cases, Lichtman noted, the severity of the abuse was so extreme for so many of the victims that apportioning the settlement money fairly was "incredibly difficult" and left him facing a "horrible dilemma." On average, the San Diego settlement translated to $1.4 million per claimant, slightly higher than the average amounts victims received in other Southern California cases. Although the specific amounts per victim are under seal, the judge noted that the highest amount awarded in some of the San Diego cases was $2.1 million. A sealed portion of Lichtman's order lays out how 126 of the victims will divide $173 million of the settlement. That leaves $25 million for the 18 victims who held out from the allocation process. Paul Livingston was a plaintiff in the suit, as well as the San Diego director of a victims advocacy group called Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests. He said the victims have had different reactions to the settlement and the announcement of the allocation of funds. "There is a range of emotions," Livingston said. "There is a complete breakdown for some, and others are thankful to have it behind them." Livingston said he was victimized as a young boy and has suffered severe depression. He declined to disclose the amount of his settlement, but said he had plans for it. "This money is going to put my daughter though school and give me a little time to rest," he said. "And it's going to help pay for some of the medical costs of other victims I help." In deciding how to allocate the money, Lichtman took into account investigative notes, reports and psychological evaluations provided by the attorneys all of which will remain confidential, he said. Lichtman said he also considered the types of abuse in each case, including instances of mutual masturbation, oral copulation, sodomy, intercourse and torture. The extent and duration of the abuse -- from one occurrence to prolonged abuse -- as well as the psychological aftermath, stretching from depression and anxiety to thoughts of suicide and suicide attempts, also played a role in how the settlement was divided. "The suffering experienced (and unending suffering which continues to this day) is truly life-altering and psychologically debilitating," Lichtman wrote in his order. "At all times this court felt helpless and ineffective in trying to assuage the grief, sorrow and unbearable weight of pain expressed by the victims." The first payments from the diocese are due in January; the balance is due in September. Contact staff writer Teri Figueroa at (760) 631-6624 or tfigueroa@nctimes.com
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