WCAX
February 16, 2011
http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=14039289
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More claims of child molestation have been filed against Vermont's Roman Catholic Diocese.
Last May the church settled cases brought by 26 former altar boys, agreeing to pay $17 million in damages. Most of the sex abuse cases stemmed from the 1970s and focused on Rev. Edward Paquette, a former Burlington priest. But the big settlement was not the end of the story. Five new claims have now been filed.
"We look carefully at every single case. There are some cases we won't take. I've never seen one of them yet where I wasn't absolutely convinced that the individual was molested by the priest, but for a variety of reasons related to damages or statute of limitations we may not take the case. But each of these cases is a carefully vetted case, that we have no doubt is a legit case," said Jerry O'Neill, the plaintiffs' lawyer.
Diocese attorney Tom McCormick noted that though the five claims were just made public, they were actually filed in the fall. So he says this is old news and there isn't much to discuss at this point.
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