MILWAUKEE - Another round of talks between the the Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee and its creditors have ended with no agreement on how to compensate victims of clergy sex abuse. As a result, both sides must return to Federal Court.
"You never forget that moment, or the touch of that predator," says Peter Isely, who was sexually abused by a priest when he was 13-years-old, at St. Lawrence Seminary in Mt. Calvary, Wisconsin.
Isely is now the Midwest chapter leader of SNAP, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.
"I can tell you the nearly 600 known victims and survivors of that abuse here in Wisconsin have not been able to get on with their lives because of what happened to them at the hands of people they were taught to trust," he says.
Now, those victims must wait longer for any type of compensation. A third round of mediation between the archdiocese and creditors failed Tuesday. Isely says with each failed attempt, hundreds of clergy sex abuse victims are losing hope that the church will do the right thing.
"The church needs to accept it's own history," he says. "Own what it has done."
Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki declined to comment about the specifics of the case.
"As Archbishop I must respect the confidentiality of those mediation sessions," he says. "What i can tell you is that we will try to continue to try to work on a plan of reorganization that will meet our responsibilities and come to some type of closure."
For the Milwaukee Archdiocese, legal fees have already topped $13 million. And with no end in sight, that cost will only keep rising. Many argue that is money that could have already gone to victims.