PENNSYLVANIA
Tribune-Democrat
By Dave Sutor
dsutor@tribdem.com
Terms of a new out-of-court settlement involving 28 individuals sexually abused by Brother Stephen Baker, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Youngstown, Ohio, and the Third Order Regular, Province of the Immaculate Conception were released on Tuesday.
The victims received a combined $900,000, coming out to about $32,000 each.
In comparison, back in 2013, the diocese settled with a group of other Baker victims for $75,000 apiece.
Attorney Mitchell Garabedian, who represented the individuals in the latest case, called the settlement “offensive,” since it paid significantly less per victim than the amount given in the past. “Many of my clients felt re-victimized,” Garabedian said.
Baker, a former member of the Blair County-based Province of the Immaculate Conception, was accused of abusing about 100 children when he served at Bishop McCort High School in Johnstown from 1992 to 2000.
The Altoona-Johnstown Diocese, Bishop McCort and Third Order Regular reached settlements with at least 91 victims, totaling more than $8 million.
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