MONTANA
ABC News
HELENA, Mont. — Nov 18, 2014
By AMY BETH HANSON Associated Press
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Helena has filed a bankruptcy reorganization plan that proposes a $16.4 million settlement for hundreds of people who said clergy members sexually abused them for decades while the church covered it up.
The plan, filed late Monday, calls for the 362 victims identified in two lawsuits filed in 2011 to receive a minimum payment of $2,500 each. An abuse-claims reviewer will determine the actual payment based on the severity and long-term effects of the abuse. The plaintiffs’ attorneys, unsecured creditors and any future abuse claims also will be paid out of the trust.
“As attorneys for the victims, we are relieved that this long battle is finally coming to an end,” Seattle attorney Timothy Kosnoff wrote in an email to The Associated Press on Nov. 14. He expected the plaintiffs to be paid early next year and expressed his “regret that it has taken so long for this modest amount of justice to be brought to them.”
The plan calls for insurance companies to contribute $14.4 million to the trust, while the diocese is asking the court’s approval for a $3.5 million loan so it can contribute $2 million to the trust and cover administrative expenses and operating expenses.
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