By Keagan Harsha
WCAX
May 13, 2008
http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=8317549
A verdict in a priest sex abuse case-- and a record-setting award.
The jury has ordered the Vermont Catholic Diocese to pay more than $8.7 million to a former altar boy who was molested by a parish priest, Father Edward Paquette, more than 30 years ago.
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It took jurors about five hours to reach a verdict.
Lawyers representing the former altar boy wanted the diocese to pay between $6 and $12 million as punishment, arguing that the diocese knowingly took on the pedophile priest who had abused children in other states. The jury agreed.
It's the largest civil award ever granted by a Vermont jury.
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"They have sent a message. That message is you need to treat people fairly," said the plaintiff's lawyer, Jerry O'Neill.
The former altar boy will now receive $950,000 in compensatory damages. The largest sum of money will come in the form of punitive damages, which are specifically intended to punish the diocese and teach church leaders a lesson.
"We've got a problem here. If we're going to be forced with the challenge of defending events that happened 35 years ago again and again without regard to what has changed since then, how really is that a fair trial?" asked Tom McCormick, the lawyer for the diocese.
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"It isn't the amount. He didn't even hear the second number. He didn't know what it was. It's not about the money. It's about the fact that the diocese is being held accountable for what it did," said O'Neill.
The diocese lawyers say the amount is undeserved and they plan to appeal the decision. Bishop Salvatore Matano says the $8.7 million is more than the church can afford.
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"The verdict, as it stands, has a very serious impact on a rural diocese and I do not want in any way to inflict any suffering or any pain on the faithful of diocese because of what happened in the past," said Bishop Matano.
The former altar boy's lawyers say their client would have settled for a much smaller amount than what was awarded. This case can now serve as a precedent for other priest abuse cases on the court's docket. Several of those case involve Father Edward Paquette.
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| Bishop Salvatore Matano |
The previous record for a jury award in Vermont was $7 million against a pharmaceutical company in a product liability case. That was four years ago and that case is still under appeal.
Contact: harsha@wcax.com
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