MINNESOTA
Wall Street Journal
By TOM CORRIGAN
he Roman Catholic Diocese of Duluth, Minn., which filed for bankruptcy last month following an $8.17 million clergy sexual-abuse verdict, has asked a judge to give victims until May to come forward with abuse allegations.
In bankruptcy-court papers, the diocese asked Judge Robert Kressel to impose a May 25 deadline by which victims must file specially written—and highly detailed—claim forms in order to seek compensation. A hearing on the proposed claims deadline, also known as the bar date, is scheduled for Thursday.
The requested deadline would give victims the full benefit of the Minnesota Child Victims Act, which expires May 25. The act, passed by the Minnesota legislature in 2013, lifted the statute of limitations for sexual-abuse cases in the state for three years, leading to the waves of abuse-related lawsuits. Other states like Delaware have enacted similar acts, known as “window” legislation.
When it filed for bankruptcy, the Diocese of Duluth faced six lawsuits and 12 additional claims of abuse, according to the Rev. James Bissonette, vicar general of the diocese. In other diocesan bankruptcies, the number of claims has grown significantly as more victims come forward to seek compensation ahead of the deadline.
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