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	Priest's Victim Wins Compo Fight By Giselle Wakatama ABC News February 2, 2009 http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/02/02/2479537.htm?section=australia The victim of a paedophile priest in the New South Wales Hunter Valley has received tens of thousands of dollars in compensation from his abuser's estate after a lengthy legal fight. The victim was repeatedly abused by Father James Fletcher after becoming an altar boy in his parish in the 1980s, when he was 11 years old. It took him until 2002 to contact police, who tracked down several other men who claimed they had also been abused. In 2004, Fletcher was found guilty of nine child sex offences and jailed for a maximum of 10 years, but he died in 2006. The ABC has been told the executor of his will handed his estate over to the church soon after but the victim was told there was no money when he sought damages. Angered by the claim, he took legal action against the Maitland-Newcastle Catholic Diocese He has already received a substantial payment from the diocese, which has now also agreed to release funds from Fletcher's estate as additional compensation. All parties have agreed to the terms of the undisclosed settlement and the civil suit has been withdrawn.
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