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	Abuse Payouts Reduced Deal in Covington Case Would Cost $85 Million By Brett Barrouquere Associated Press, carried in Kentucky.com January 10, 2006 http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/news/local/13589178.htm BURLINGTON - Attorneys announced a settlement yesterday in a federal lawsuit that would lessen the total amount that could be paid out to alleged victims of sexual abuse in the Covington Diocese. The settlement in the federal case would mean alleged victims of abuse would receive a total of up to $85 million instead of the $120 million first proposed in the state class-action case, attorneys said. The federal suit was brought by the diocese against its insurers. The announcement yesterday was made during a hearing in Boone County Circuit Court in which a judge heard testimony on whether to accept a proposed settlement in the class-action suit. The suit accuses the diocese of a 50-year cover up of sexual abuse by priests and other employees. The judge did not immediately issue a ruling in that case. The diocese had originally agreed to pay up to $120 million to abuse victims, saying it would pay out $40 million and its insurance companies would pay up to $80 million. Stan Chesley, the attorney for the plaintiffs alleging abuse, said the original figure was based on an estimate that 700 to 800 victims would come forward. Since there were but 361 valid claims, the amount paid by the insurance companies was also cut in half, Chesley said. The Covington Diocese spans 14 Northern Kentucky counties and has 89,000 parishioners. The lawsuit also covers some Kentucky counties that were part of the Covington Diocese until 1988, when a new diocese in Lexington formed. The proposed $120 million would have made the Covington case the largest such settlement of church-abuse claims in the country. However, the $85 million amount would not be the largest. A larger settlement of $100 million was reached in 2004 by the Diocese of Orange, Calif. The Covington Diocese has already put up $40 million in cash, leaving an initial pool of $55 million available for payments, Chesley said. The goal in both the settlements was to not bankrupt either the diocese or the insurance company, Chesley said. "Bankruptcy was not an option," Chesley said. The Boone County court has received confidential forms from 382 people saying they were abused by a priest or other employee of the Covington Diocese. Twenty-one of those claims were rejected, but the rest from that group will be able to submit claims. Victims would receive awards ranging from $5,000 to $450,000, based on severity of abuse, and those in the highest category would be eligible to apply to a special fund for extraordinary claims. Three victims, whose names were not released, testified briefly yesterday, asking Judge John Potter to approve the settlement. The class-action settlement comes on top of 58 cases settled by the diocese with other people who had claims of abuse, said Carrie Huff, an attorney for the diocese. The diocese paid $10.8 million to settle those cases, Huff said.
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