Settlement Reached in Case against Abusive Priest

NBC Chicago
May 21, 2013

http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/donald-mcguire-priest-sex-abuse-lawsuit-settlement-208427731.html

Defrocked Jesuit Donald McGuire

[with video]

An attorney for six men who claim they were abused by a now-defrocked priest says Jesuit officials have agreed to pay $19.6 million to settle his clients' lawsuit.

Attorney Jeff Anderson announced the settlement Monday. He said the amount reflects the "magnitude of misconduct" by Donald McGuire's superiors in the Chicago Province for the Society of Jesus.

Church officials have apologized and said they have taken steps to prevent sexual abuse.

"...We are painfully aware that in the past we did not do enough to prevent the abuse of children and vulnerable adults," said Fr. Timothy Kesicki in a statement. "We made mistakes by thinking that restrictive measures we undertook with regard to Donald McGuire would be effective."

McGuire is serving a 25-year prison term after being convicted of taking a minor on religious retreats to have sex with him.

"I hope that this will make the Jesuits step up and do more to protect the children," said Barbara Blaine, the founder of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

Anderson said the men who filed the lawsuit range in age from their 20s to their 40s. They claim the priest molested them between 1975 and the early 2000s.